I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



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THE 



New Eschatology. 



SHOWING 



THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF THE EARTH 



AND 



THE WIDE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LETTER AND 
SPIRIT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. 



BY 

J. G. BKOUGHTON PEGG. 










PHILADELPHIA 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO, 

18 7 2. 



,-f 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



The Library 
Congress 



WASHINGTON 



Lippincott's Press, 
philadelphia. 



r 



NOTE. 



This little work was published in England several 
years ago; but has never before been republished in 
this country. It deals with those texts of Scripture 
which have generally been supposed to foretell the de- 
struction of the material universe; and shows conclu- 
sively that these passages have been entirely misunder- 
stood by commentators; and that, rightly interpreted, 
they have no reference whatever to the outer realm 
of matter, but to the inner realm of mind ; to the 
internal condition of the church, the loss or destruc- 
tion of heavenly charity, and the eclipse of genuine 
faith, which it was foreseen and foretold would occur at 
the close of the first Christian Dispensation. 

It is proper to add, also, that, although the name of 

Swedenborg nowhere occurs in the book, it is evident 

that the author was familiar with his teachings, and 

viewed and treated his subject from the Sweden borgian 
l* 5 



6 NOTE. 

stand-point. But with the lovers of spiritual truth and 
the seekers after a Spiritual Christianity, this fact — now 
that so many earnest inquirers are beginning to read the 
writings of the Swedish seer — will rather add to than 
detract from the interest and value of the work. 

American Editor. 

Philadelphia, Oct. 30, 1871. 



THE 

NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 



For the first heaven and the first earth were 
passed away; and there was no more 
sea. — Rev. xxi. 1. 

TTTHILE we blame the conduct of the Jews in adher- 
ing only to the literal sense of the Scriptures, and 
by such adherence rejecting their Messiah, we possibly for- 
get that the Christian church has followed precisely the 
same line of conduct ; and that to this we are indebted for 
the greater part of those absurd dogmas, which have so long 
exposed the Gospel to the derision of its enemies. Had 
men properly discriminated between those parts of the Sa- 
cred Volume which are literally true, and those which are 
only apparently so, we should never have heard of the doc- 
trines of transubstantiation and Roman supremacy ; nor of 
many other equally absurd beliefs which the generality of 
Christians entertain. We should not have seen a fallible 
and weak mortal exalted as Head over the church of God ; 
we should not have heard of a morsel of bread being 

changed into the Lord's body ; we should not have seen the 

7 



8 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

Divine Nature divided among three separate and distinct 
Persons ; nor should we have heard of the doctrine which 
we are about to bring under consideration. 

But do not mistake me. When I assert that the Scrip- 
tures in the literal sense sometimes speak only apparent 
truth, I by no means deny the divine authority of the Sa- 
cred Record. The church whose doctrines I advocate, most 
explicitly declares that the whole of the Scriptures, — every 
chapter, — every verse, — every word, nay, sometimes every 
letter — is filled with the inbreathed wisdom of God. But 
when I say that apparent and not real truths are often 
laid down in the letter of the Word, I affirm what every 
man who possesses any share of discernment will readily 
admit. The fact itself is too plain even to require proof. 
Thus we read that the sun rises, moves, and sets ; which is 
certainly true in appearance, but not in reality. Again we 
are told that the Lord repents, — that He is weary, and 
that He turns away His face from man ; which, though cor- 
rect as regards appearance, has no foundation in literal 
fact ; for though the Sun of Righteousness is said to rise 
upon the soul, and to set when the mind is given up to evil, 
yet it is here as in the case of the material sun. In God 
"there is no variableness nor shadow of turning;" — "He 
fainteth not, neither is weary;" — "He is not a man that 
He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent ;" 
but as the earth, by turning to or from the sun, causes the 
appearance of motion in that body ; so the mind of man, 
by turning to the Lord, or by departing from Him, causes 



NEED OF SOME KEY. 9 

an appearance of change in God ; yet it is not He that 
changes, but the mind itself. 

And we may go still further. There are numerous pas- 
sages in the Word of God, which in the literal sense only, 
do not convey even apparent truth. Among others the fol- 
lowing, " Thou ridest through them with thine horses." " He 
rode upon a cherub and did fly ; He came flying upon the 
wings of the wind." " He that eateth my flesh and drinketh 
my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him ;" "for my flesh is 
meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." " This (bread) 
is my body ; this cup is the New Testament in my blood." 
" If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from 
thee." "I am the Door of the sheep." "I am the true 
vine, and my Father is the Husbandman." In all these 
passages, and others which will occur to every reader of 
the Scripture, the literal sense conveys neither real nor ap- 
parent truth. The Lord does not really ride through the 
sea, nor does he even appear to do so. The flesh of the 
Saviour was not to be literally eaten. The bread which He 
held was not really his body, nor did it even seem to be so. 
And as in these and similar instances, the outward letter of 
the Word conveys not its true meaning, it is to be sought 
for in the law of correspondence ; or in that eternal con- 
nection which subsists between natural things and spiritual. 

And upon this law of correspondence or analogy I must 
make a few preliminary remarks. It is what the world in 
general terms figure, or metaphor; but the New Church 
makes a distinction, and I will add, a very just one, be- 



10 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

twixt figure (properly so called) and correspondence. Fig- 
urative language is that in which a comparison is drawn 
between one natural object and another ; the analogy be- 
tween which exists only in the imagination, and has, there- 
fore, no real existence : but correspondence is the represen- 
tation of spiritual things by natural ; and the resemblance 
is not merely imaginary but real, consisting in the proper 
dependence of the latter upon the former, as an effect upon 
its cause. If we compare a mighty empire in its rise, 
glory, and decline, to an oak springing up, flourishing for 
centuries, and then decaying, we use figurative language ; 
since both the empire and the oak are natural objects, which 
have no real connection with each other, and between which 
the resemblance is only imaginary. But when the Creator 
is likened to the sun, the language is no longer figurative 
but correspondent. It is not the comparison of earthly 
things with earthly, but of spiritual things with natural. 
And the objects compared have a real connection with each 
other, since the material sun depends on its Creator as an 
effect upon its cause. Again, when the church is described 
as the Lord's body, the language is correspondent and the 
connection real ; for the rise and prosperity of the church 
depended upon the assumption of humanity by the Saviour ; 
and it still hangs upon it as the cause of its existence. 

We further notice that all passages of the Word, the 
historical as well as the poetical, bear within them such a 
correspondent or internal sense. This will be placed beyond 
a reasonable doubt if we consider, first, that " all Scrip- 



PLENARY INSPIRATION. 11 

tare," whether historical or prophetic, is, according to the 
Apostle, inspired or God-breathed. And as the breath of 
God is the infinitude of his love and wisdom, every portion 
of the sacred Volume must be filled with it. Not only 
every book in general, but every verse and every sen- 
tence ; — for if we can find a single sentence which does not 
contain within itself the infinite wisdom of God, such sen- 
tence must either form no part of the Scripture, or the 
assertion of Paul must be untrue. And secondly, the Word 
of God from the beginning to the end is intended to " make 
us wise unto salvation." This is the design with which 
every part of it was written. But we can only become 
truly wise by being acquainted with our own state, and 
with the nature of the Divine Redeemer. Whatever part, 
therefore, does not relate both to God and to ourselves, can- 
not communicate saving wisdom ; and consequently, (if the 
Apostle be correct,) cannot form any portion of the Sacred 
Volume. Now, independently of the passages which we 
have before quoted, the greater part of what is called "the 
historical Word," consists, in its mere outward form, of the 
records of the Jewish nation, their wars, and their policy. 
The prophecies themselves in their literal and obvious 
meaning, refer to the rise and decline of earthly states, and 
to the mutation of earthly empires. Either, then, such 
records and prophecies must have an internal and corre- 
spondent meaning, relating to spiritual and divine things, 
or if they have not, they cannot be fitted to communicate 
saving wisdom, and so cannot be accounted part of the 



12 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

Scriptures; seeing that the Scriptures in every part, are, 
according to Paul, filled with this wisdom.* 

If, then, there are parts of the Word of God, the true 
meaning of which is not to be found in the literal sense ; 
if that Word contains, within the outward letter, a spiritual 
and internal meaning; and if we are to resort to such 
meaning where the letter gives not the true one ; the next 
inquiry which arises is, How are we to determine when a 
passage is true in the literal sense, or when it is only true 
in the corresponding one? The answer is easy. When 
the outward meaning of any passage asserts something at 
variance with reason, — or when it appears opposed to the 
known character of God, then such meaning must be 
abandoned, and the truth sought in the internal sense. 
This answer has been admitted as correct by the Protestant 
churches, in their contest with their Catholic neighbors. 
The latter argue that the words of our Lord, " This is my 
body," are to be literally understood; while the former 
very justly answer that, since such an interpretation is 
opposed to reason and at variance with the nature of God 
as a God of truth, it ought to be and must be rejected; 
and the words considered as figurative, or as I have already 
termed it, correspondent. 

I have now proved a few preliminary points : First, that 
there are some portions of the Word of God, the true 

* See on this subject, " The Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures 
asserted," by Rev. S. Noble : — a work well worthy the perusal of 
every Christian, and which deserves a place in every library. 



13 

meaning of which is not to be found in the letter. Second, 
that when the literal sense of a passage is opposed to fact 
and reason, such literal sense is to be rejected. And third, 
that in such cases the interpretation must be sought in the 
correspondent or figurative meaning. 

We turn now to what is commonly denominated " the 
End of the World ;" and on stating the generally received 
doctrine on this subject, we shall quote the words of the 
celebrated John Wesley, both on account of his piety and 
learning, and because the views which he maintains may 
be fairly taken as those of the generality of Christians. 
First he observes : 

" There shall be earthquakes, not in divers places only, 
but in all places; not in one part only, but in every part of 
the habitable world. In one of these every island shall 
flee away, and the mountains will not be found. Mean- 
while all the waters of the terraqueous globe will feel the 
violence of these concussions. The sea and the waves 
roaring, with such an agitation as had never been known 
before since the hour that ' the fountains of the great deep 
were broken up' to destroy the earth, which then stood 
'out of the water and in the water!' The air will be all 
storm and tempest, full of dark vapors, and pillars of 
smoke resounding with thunder from pole to pole, and torn 
with ten thousand lightnings. But the commotion will not 
stop in the region of the air : the powers of heaven also 
shall be shaken. ' There shall be signs in the sun and in 

the moon, and in the stars ;' those fixed as well as those 
2 



14 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

that move round them. 'The sun shall be turned into 
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and 
terrible day of the Lord come.' ' The stars shall withdraw 
their shining,' yea, and ' fall from heaven,' being thrown 
out of their orbits. And "then shall be heard the universal 
shout from all the companies of heaven, followed by the 
voice of the archangel, proclaiming the approach of the Son 
of God and man ; and the trumpet of God sounding an 
alarm to all that sleep in the dust of the earth. In conse- 
quence of this, all the graves shall open and the bodies of 
men arise." 

After the following judgment, (which Mr. Wesley thinks 
must last several thousand years, considering "the number 
of persons who are to be judged, and of actions which are 
to be inquired into,") he proceeds : 

" Then the heavens will be shriveled up as a parchment 
scroll, and pass away with a great noise. The very manner 
of their passing away is disclosed to us by the apostle Peter, 
'In the day of God, the heavens being on fire shall be dis- 
solved.' The whole beautiful fabric will be overthrown by 
that raging element, the connexion of all its parts destroyed, 
and every atom torn asunder from the others. 'By the 
same the earth also and the works that are therein, shall be 
burnt up;' the enormous work of nature, the everlasting 
hills, mountains that have defied the rage of time, and 
stood unmoved so many thousand years, will sink down in 
fiery ruin. How much less will the works of art, though 
of the most durable kind, the utmost efforts of human in- 



THE BIBLE MISUNDERSTOOD. 15 

dustry, tombs, pillars, triumphal arches, castles, pyramids, 
be able to withstand the flaming Conqueror! All, all will 
die, perish, vanish away, like a dream when one aw r aketh."* 
Such, in substance, is the doctrine of the Christian world ; 
and certainly if fear and terror were sufficient to drive men 
into a state of righteousness, here are horrors enough to 
excite the fears even of the most courageous. But not the 
eloquence of man any more than his wrath, worketh the right- 
eousness of God. It is not sufficient that a doctrine be el- 
oquently set forth ; it must also have truth for its founda- 
tion. It is not enough that Scripture be quoted to support 
it ; that Scripture must also stand in its proper connexion, 
and retain its proper meaning ; for if this be not the case, 
however eloquent the preacher and however numerous the 
apparent proofs, the tenet can only rank with that "wood, 
hay, and stubble," — those unsubstantial and airy doctrines, 
which, w T hen tried by the fire of Divine Wisdom, are con- 
sumed and pass aw T ay. And if we can prove, First, That 
the passages which are quoted to support the doctrine be- 
fore us, are literally understood, while nevertheless such lit- 
eral sense leads to absurdity; Second, If we can further 
make it appear that such a literal application of them makes 
them inconsistent with each other as well as with many 
plain portions of the Bible ; and again, that, even if we 
admit such outw T ard meaning to be correct, it gives no coun- 

* See Wesley's Sermons. Sermon xv. " preached before the Hon. 
Sir Edward Clive, one of the judges of his Majesty's court of com- 
mon pleas, in St. Paul's Church, Bedford, on Friday, March 10, 1758. 



16 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

tenance to the doctrine in dispute ; while at the same time 
that doctrine is opposed to the end of creation and the 
character of God ; — if these propositions can be made good, 
I trust it will appear, that the tenet itself has no counte- 
nance from the Scriptures ; and that the true meaning of 
the passages adduced, must be sought for in the internal or 
spiritual sense of the Word. 

The portions of Scripture on which the supposed destruc- 
tion of the universe is founded, are far from numerous. 
Some of them are already quoted in the extract from Mr. 
Wesley ; and previous to entering upon the consideration 
of our first proposition, we shall point out a few of the re- 
mainder. "Immediately after the tribulation of those 
days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not 
give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven, and the 
powers of heaven shall be -shaken ; and then shall appear 
the sign of the Son of man in heaven ; and then shall all the 
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man 
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 
And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a 
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the 
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. 
xxiv. 29, 30, 31. "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or 
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, until all be 
fulfilled." Matt. v. 18. "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye 
gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who is taken 
from you, shall so come as ye have seen Him go into 
heaven." Acts i. 11. "Then cometh the end, when he 



THE VISIONS OF JOHN. 17 

shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the 
Father." 1 Cor. xv. 24. "The Lord Jesus shall be re- 
vealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, 
taking vengeance on them that know not God." 2 Thess. i. 
7, 8. " The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the 
night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great 
noise, and the elements shall melt w T ith fervent heat ; the 
earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned 
up." 2 Peter iii. 10. 

But it is from the book of Revelation, that the principal 
part of the proofs are drawn. A book confessedly figura- 
tive in its language, and which the wisest and most learned 
men have in vain striven to interpret. One could hardly 
commit or imagine a greater outrage upon the common 
sense of mankind, than that which the defenders of this 
doctrine have committed, by first confessing the Book itself 
to be figurative and inexplicable, and then adducing its 
language literally, in their support, as if they had all at 
once found out that it w r as no longer figurative but literal. 
If the visions of the Apostle are not literal, but grand and 
representative images, then ought they not to be under- 
stood in a literal manner? or if they are to be so under- 
stood, then as plain and literal narrative they may be easily 
explained; and the complaint which the receivers of this 
doctrine have so often made, that it cannot be understood, 
is to the last degree frivolous and foolish. 

And what makes the matter still worse is, that the pas- 
sages they have adduced are among the most highly figura- 

2 * 



18 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

tive in the Apostle's descriptions. The following are among 
them : " Behold He cometh with clouds, and every eye 
shall see Him ; and they that pierced Him ; and all the 
tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him." i. 7. "And 
I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there 
was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sack- 
cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the 
stars of heaven fell unto the earth ; even as a fig-tree cast- 
eth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind ; 
and the heaven departed as a scroll, when it is rolled to- 
gether, and every mountain and island were moved out of 
their places." vi. 12, 13, 14. "And I saw a great white 
throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth 
and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for 
them : and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before 
God." xx. 11, 12. "And I saw a new heaven and a new 
earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed 
away, and there was no more sea." xxi. 1. 

Such are the texts of Scripture by which the doctrine 
before us is supported ; the greater part of which have 
clearly no reference to the subject, and the remainder being 
not the literal language of narrative, but the correspondent 
and mysterious words of prophecy. Yet, even viewing 
them in their outward meaning, we can scarcely fail to be 
struck with the wide difference which exists between them 
and the description of Mr. Wesley. There is nothing in 
them of an earthquake, amidst some general concussion in 
which every island shall flee away: — nothing of "the air 



THE LITERAL SENSE UNREASONABLE. 19 

resounding with thunder from pole to pole, and being torn 
with ten thousand lightnings :" — nothing of the connexion 
of every part being destroyed, and every atom torn asunder 
from the others. We may therefore fairly set these down 
as additional horrors, supplied by the imagination of the 
writer, and unsupported by anything like Scripture proof. 
And with regard to what remains, we will now see how far 
that literal sense upon which it rests, will stand the cri- 
terion by which we are to determine the meaning of Scrip- 
ture. If the outward meaning is reasonable and consist- 
ent, then it must be adhered to, and the doctrine is estab- 
lished : but if, on the other hand, such interpretation leads 
to absurdity, then, by the consent of every Protestant 
church, that meaning must be laid aside ; and with it, too, 
must be cast off the tenet of this world's destruction. 

But one cautionary remark must here be made. We 
are by no means authorized to mingle together literal and 
figurative language. That is, we have no right to inter- 
pret one part of a sentence literally, and another as figure. 
The passages before us are either literal, or they are not. 
If they are, then every part of them must be literally un- 
derstood ; if they are not, then no part of them can be lit- 
erally interpreted. If, then, we adhere to the outward 
meaning, we must carry that adherence to every portion of 
the text; for if we reject such meaning in any part, we 
reject it in the whole ; and the doctrine which depends for 
support upon it, must fall to the ground. 

Keeping this in view our first proposition is, that, to affix 



20 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

a literal sense to the passages before us, is to give them a 
meaning at once absurd and unreasonable. We might in 
proof of this, go through every word in every text. It is 
declared in the letter that "the Lord shall descend from 
heaven ;" but heaven is not a place connected either by 
height or distance with the material world. Could we rise 
far into the regions of space, and ascend for ever in the 
oceans of worlds, still, as regards distance, we should be no 
nearer heaven than before. Where God manifests Himself 
in the fullness of his love, there is heaven ; but God being 
a Spirit, can only manifest Himself thus in a spiritual 
region ; and such a region has no relation of space or dis- 
tance with a world of matter. Hence, therefore, a descent 
from heaven is not a literal going down from a higher place 
to one beneath, and consequently must not be literally un- 
derstood. Here the literal meaning fails at the very 
threshold. At the first step we are obliged to seek for a 
figurative or spiritual sense. 

If we overcome this difficulty, we have yet to encounter 
others. It is further said that He shall descend with " a 
trumpet." Now modern Christians ridicule the idea of 
visible habitations and outward objects in the spiritual 
world. What then are we to make of the description be- 
fore us, — of this trumpet with which the Lord is to descend ? 
Is it material, or is it not? If it is material, then heaven, 
in which there are material objects, must be a material 
place; and the Being who uses this material trumpet, must 
be a material Being; consequently, we must materialize 



21 

both heaven and its inhabitants. But if this trumpet is 
not a material one, then let the defenders of the literal 
meaning tell us what is a spiritual trumpet? Whatever 
may be the answer, one thing is certain, — that which is 
spiritual is internal; and if by the words before us we are 
not to understand a literal trumpet, but something spiritual 
signified by it, then the literal meaning of the passage is 
not and cannot be the true one. 

It is further declared that " The Lord shall come in the 
clouds of heaven." The question again arises: What are 
we to understand by these? The clouds literally mean 
those masses of vapor, which, arising from the earth, are 
condensed and become visible in the atmosphere ; and 
which surround the earth at the distance of a few miles. 
If we keep to the literal sense of the passage, these must 
be understood. But is it in these that the Lord is to de- 
scend? Is six or eight miles above the surface of the 
globe, heaven ? Or can bodies which seldom rise beyond 
this elevation, be properly called the clouds of heaven? 
Or is this the glory with which the Lord is to be invested — 
the vapors which rise from the material globe ? 

But this is not all. With Him the angels are also to 
descend. Now the nature of angels is not material ; they 
exist not in space, nor are they included in its boundaries. 
How, then, we again ask, are spiritual beings to descend in 
a material vapor? It would degrade the subject to carry 
these questions further ; but every person's discernment will 
enable him to perceive that by no means can the literal 



22 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

clouds be understood ; and that these words must, like the 
former, be acknowledged as figurative. Here, therefore, at 
the very commencement we are obliged to spiritualize both 
the descent, the trumpet, and the clouds. Do what we will, 
the literal sense is absurd. And if we are forced to allow 
that part of the description cannot be literally understood, 
it is fair to conclude that the remainder has also an internal 
meaning. 

We shall soon perceive further proof of this. After it is 
declared that the Lord shall come "in the clouds of 
heaven," it is added, as a necessary consequence, '"'and 
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, when they see 
the Son of Man coming in the clouds." In agreement with 
this are the words of John, "Behold, He cometh with 
clouds ; and every eye shall see Him." If this be understood 
of an event which is literally to take place, we must again 
believe an impossibility. This world is a round body ; and 
that which is visible to the inhabitants of one hemisphere, 
must be invisible to the dwellers on the other. Those who 
live upon one part of its surface cannot, by any possibility, 
see what is above the opposite part. This is a circumstance 
of daily experience: — at twelve o'clock at midnight the 
sun is visible to the inhabitants of the other side of this 
earth, and with them it is noon-day ; but at that hour it is 
invisible to us; nor can we, by any possible means, obtain 
a sight of it. If, then, it be true that an object visible on 
one side of a globe, is invisible on the opposite, we inquire, 
In what situation must the Lord appear, that He may be 



DIFFICULTIES. 23 

seen at one and the same moment from every part of a 
round body ? Where, or in what part of the atmosphere 
must He be placed that all the tribes of the earth, (those on 
its opposite sides,) may behold Him at the same time ? Such 
a position is not only difficult, but absolutely impossible, un- 
less the figure of the globe were changed ; and to believe 
that such will be the manner of our Lord's coming, is to 
involve ourselves in a labyrinth of absurdities. 

Aware of this difficulty, the writer whom I have already 
quoted supposes that the inhabitants of this earth will be 
caught up in the air, and thus be enabled to behold our 
Lord's descent. "Perhaps," says he, "it is more agree- 
able to our Lord's own account of his coming in the clouds, 
to suppose it will be above the earth, if not 'twice a planet- 
ary height;' and this supposition is not a little favored by 
what St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, 'The dead in 
Christ shall rise first.' Then we who remain alive shall be 
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord 
in the air. So that it seems most probable, the ' great white 
throne' will be exalted high above the earth." Such a 
method of explanation only shows the difficulties into 
which the mere literal sense has thrown its followers. In- 
dependent of the total absence of all Scripture proof of 
these ideas, it may be remarked that, " twice a planetary 
height," that is, twice the distance of the farthest planet 
from the earth, is not the place of clouds ; in such case, 
therefore, the Lord would not come in the clouds, but far 
above them. Nor could He be said to descend from heaven ; 



24 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

for as heaven, in the literal sense, is the starry region, if He 
remained stationary in that region, it would not be a de- 
scent from heaven, but a descent in heaven. And besides, 
as the clouds, literally, are the vapors surrounding the 
earth, by interpreting them to mean "twice a planetary 
height," the literal sense is given up; and if this be re- 
jected, the doctrine before us is overthrown. 

Once more we turn to the texts. Another event which 
is said to accompany the coming of the Lord, is the falling 
of the stars from heaven to the earth. " The stars shall 
fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be 
shaken." " The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even 
as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken 
of a mighty wind." When, in disputing with the Romish 
church, we contend that the Lord's words are not to be 
understood literally, we think it sufficient to prove, that so 
understood they involve an absurdity. But fully as great 
an absurdity is involved in the literal interpretation of the 
words before us. The stars, though to us they appear but 
as shining atoms, are proved beyond the possibility of 
doubt, to be equal to our sun both in size and splendor. 
Each one of them is, in fact, a sun, as large and as bril- 
liant as that which enlightens our day. Now the sun ex- 
ceeds our earth nearly ten hundred thousand times in mag- 
nitude ; each star, therefore, may be reasonably supposed 
to exceed the size of this globe nearly a million times. 
As well, then, may we talk of ten thousand worlds falling 
upon an atom, as of ten thousand suns, each of them a 



FURTHER DIFFICULTIES. 25 

million times larger than the globe, falling upon this grain 
of earth : it is in itself as impossible as for a piece of bread 
to become the body of the Lord. 

But further ; the number of these bodies is beyond the 
power of human calculation. Millions sink into nothing 
in computing it, — thousands of millions are nothing. Every 
part of the vault of heaven contains myriads ; and clusters 
of them have been observed which contain, within them- 
selves, myriads more. Could we penetrate into the depths 
of space, as far as the eye could see — as far as thought 
could penetrate, we should find suns and worlds till the 
mind was lost in the idea of their multitude : and though 
we continued to move onward for ages, we should still find 
ourselves but on the threshold of creation. These are not 
the visions of speculation, but the facts of philosophy ; — 
truths which actual observation has placed beyond a doubt. 
Such are, literally, the stars of heaven : myriads of myr- 
iads of suns, surrounded by ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand worlds. And let the common sense of mankind 
decide, whether all these can fall upon the surface of a 
globe not equal to the smallest of them in magnitude. 

But we have not yet done with this subject. Let us 
imagine it possible that these innumerable and enormous 
bodies ivere thrown out of their stations, and by the hand 
of God launched towards our little world. What w r ould 
result if they only came within a short distance of it? (to 
say nothing of their falling upon its surface.) It is well 
known to all who are acquainted with philosophy, that each 



26 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

of the heavenly bodies possesses a power called attraction, 
by which it draws towards itself any smaller body that 
comes within its sphere. So powerful is this attractive 
force that the sun alone draws all the worlds which move 
around it, and keeps them from flying off, though some are 
at the distance of eighteen hundred millions of miles! 
Each of the stars being of the same nature with our sun, 
possesses equally this attracting power. And were only 
a few of these bodies to be brought within a certain dis- 
tance of the earth, the force of their combined attraction 
acting in contrary directions, would explode and scatter 
abroad, not only this earth but every earth in the system : 
and long before they could fall upon its surface, there would 
be no world for them to fall upon ; it would be dissolved, 
and its atoms scattered through the universe. 

Again, the Apostle Peter declares that " The heavens 
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall 
melt with fervent heat." A question, therefore, once more 
arises, what is meant by "the elements?" Literally, they 
signify the most simple forms of matter, fire, air, earth, 
and water. But how can these melt, or be melted ? — Can 
fire melt with fervent heat ? It may be dispersed in its 
pure form, that of heat or caloric ; but it is incapable of 
being melted. Can air, then, melt? It may be expanded, 
but it will not melt, in the literal meaning of the word. 
Can water melt? It may be raised in steam, and made to 
fly off in vapor : it may, by the application of heat, be 
resolved into air, its first principle ; but it will not melt. 



MELTING OF THE ELEMENTS. li 

There is, therefore, only one element ont of the four which 
is capable of being literally melted; earth may, indeed, be 
vitrified, and rendered fluid. But how can one element be 
denominated the elements? And besides, the apostle seems 
to exclude the earth from the elements which are thus to 
melt ; for he mentions its destruction, as subsequent to that 
of the elements. "The elements shall melt with fervent 
heat, the earth also, that is, in addition to these, the earth 
and the works that are therein, shall be burned up.* Here 
again, the literal sense fails. We must either allow what 
is not true, namely, that fire, air, and water, can be melted 
by fire, or seek for an internal and figurative meaning. 

I might pass thus through the whole of the language on 
which this tenet is founded ; and it would be easy to show 
that the circumstances are as impossible in their literal 
meaning, as that a man should eat "the flesh of his own 
arm," or that our Lord should literally be a vine and a door. 

The very advocates of the doctrine are convinced of this. 
Hence they have framed various and contradictory systems 
to explain the above descriptions. One has asserted that 

* Dr. Clarke has a very curious note on this passage. He supposes 
that the "noise" will be occasioned by the action of electric fire, on 
the watery particles of the atmosphere. These, being divided into 
their two component gases, the one will ascend into the higher re- 
gions, and the other float on the earth's surface. Thus, he says, the 
account of the apostle is "philosophically correct." Whether this 
be the apostle, or whether such account is correct in any degree, let 
common sense judge. 



28 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

the earth will at that period be rolled out of her orbit, and 
that this motion will cause an appearance as if the heavens 
passed away. Another has enveloped the world in a thick 
mist, by which the light of the moon, being changed, will 
appear of a red color. A third has appointed a comet, 
which in its passage to or from the sun, will approach this 
earth and involve it in flames. All have seen the diffi- 
culties, and all have attempted to overcome them by ex- 
planations ; yet, after all, the task remains as arduous as 
ever. If we will, in despite of reason, found a doctrine on 
the literal meaning of the texts, we must adhere to that 
meaning ; for to depart from it, is to confess its insuffi- 
ciency : and if, on the other hand, we resolve to reject the 
literal sense in one part, we then acknowledge that it is not 
the true one, and that another must be sought for. If we 
are obliged to give up a literal falling of stars to the earth, 
and a literal appearance in the clouds of the air, then we 
must give up also, a literal burning and destruction of the 
universe ; for if one part of the sentence is to be under- 
stood figuratively, so is the other. 

And that such destruction is a spiritual event, and not a 
natural one, will appear still further from the following ob- 
servation. When two prophecies are found, couched in the 
same language, and nearly in the same words, one of which, 
prophecies has been fulfilled, while the other yet remains to 
be accomplished ; the manner in which the latter will be 
fulfilled must be determined by the previous fulfillment of 
the former. 



LANGUAGE OF PROPHECY. 29 

Now it is a fact, although very seldom noticed, that the 
prophecies relating to the first coming of the Lord, are ex- 
pressed in the very same language with those which relate 
to his second appearance. We need only turn to the writ- 
ings of the prophets to be convinced of this. " Behold," 
says Malachi, " the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, 
and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be as 
stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith 
Jehovah of Hosts. And, behold, I send you Elijah the 
prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible day of 
the Lord." iv. 1, 5. Again, Isaiah: "All the host of 
heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled 
together as a scroll, and all their host shall fall down as a 
falling fig from the fig-tree.* Every battle of the warrior 
is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood ; but 
this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a 
child is born." ix. 5. " Upon the servants and upon the 
handmaids in those days I will pour out my spirit; and I 
will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, 
and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into 

* Tliis passage in its mere outward application, refers to a tem- 
poral overthrow in the land of Idumea; it has also, however, an 
acknowledged relation to the triumphs of the Gospel, and the over- 
throw of its enemies. Still, it makes little difference in the strength 
of the argument, to which event it is referred. Such descriptions have 
been given, they have been fulfilled, yet in no case literally. This is 
all that need be proved. 



30 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terri- 
ble day of the Lord come." Joel ii. 29-31. 

This latter prophecy is expressly applied by Peter to the 
commencement of Christianity. In defending his brethren 
from the charge of imposture brought against them by the 
Jews on the day of Pentecost, he declares, " This (the ex- 
traordinary inspiration of the spirit) is that which was 
spoken by the prophet Joel ; I will show wonders in the 
heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, and 
fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into 
darkness, and the moon into blood." Acts ii. 16-20. 

Once more, the prophet Haggai, speaking of the same 
period declares, " Thus saith Jehovah of hosts. Yet once 
it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the 
earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all 
nations and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will 
fill this house (the latter temple) with glory, saith Jehovah 
of hosts." Again, the prophet Joel before quoted, says, 

9 

" Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision ; for the 
day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun 
and the moon shall he darkened, and the stars shall withdraw 
their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and 
utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the 
earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his 
people. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God, 
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusa- 
lem be holy." iii. 14-17. "But who (says Malachi,) may 
abide the day of His coming, or who shall stand when He 



PROPHECIES OF THE FIRST ADVENT. 31 

appeareth ? for He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' 
soap." And to conclude this magnificent imagery, Isaiah 
declares, " Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth ; 
and the former shall not be remembered nor come to mind ; 
— they shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat 
of the sun smite them ; but He that hath mercy upon them 
shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide 
them." 

With such descriptions of the first Advent of the Mes- 
siah do the prophets abound. Let any one peruse with at- 
tention the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Joel, 
Haggai, and Malachi, and he will be convinced of the 
truth of this remark. We will now notice the agreement 
which exists between these prophecies relating to his first 
appearance, and those which refer to his second coming. 
Both periods are called "the day of the Lord;" and both 
are ushered in by "darkness and gloominess." In both it 
is said that " the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the 
moon into blood ;" and in both " the heavens and the earth " 
are said to "pass away." In both of them the Lord is de- 
clared to come "in fire," and the conclusion of both is "a 
new heaven and a new earth." 

Now one of these periods is past. The first Advent of 
the Saviour to which the above prophecies refer, is accom- 
plished. And how were these predictions fulfilled? Did 
the events literally take place? Let history answer. Though 
the heavens and the earth were to be shaken and pass 
away, yet no commotion took place in the visible parts of 



32 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

nature. The seasons ran their wonted course; the sun 
gave forth his usual light ; and the earth pursued without 
intermission her annual journey. Though the moon was 
to be "turned into blood," yet no such disaster befell the 
visible planet ; her light shone as bright as ever. One sol- 
itary meteor alone over the plains of Judea, announced to 
the Eastern sages the coming of the Saviour. Though his 
approach was to be in fire, yet no material flames accom- 
panied his Advent. The fire of Divine Love alone distin- 
guished Him. Not one of all these predictions had any- 
thing resembling a literal accomplishment. And now let 
us look to the conclusion. If, when two prophecies are 
given, couched in the same language, one of which is ful- 
filled while the other remains to be accomplished, the in- 
terpretation of the second is to be judged of by the fulfill- 
ment of the first, the following argument at once arises : 
Since the prophecies relating to the first Advent of the 
Saviour are expressed by the very same terms, and repre- 
sented by the very same images as those which refer to his 
second coming, the meaning of these latter must be similar 
to that of the others. And since not one of those prophe- 
cies ever received a literal fulfillment, so neither are we to 
expect a literal fulfillment of those before us. In a word, 
since the events predicted at the Lord's first coming were 
not natural, but representative images of spiritual things — 
of states of the world and of the church ; so those fore- 
shadowing his second comi.ig are representative of similar 



QUESTIONS FOR THE LITERALISTS. 33 

things, belonging to the minds of men, and will never re- 
ceive a literal accomplishment. 

If, however, it be still maintained in opposition to this 
remark, that they must be understood literally, I will ask 
one question. Since the words of the Old Testament which 
describe the first appearance of the Eedeemer, are exactly 
similar to those of the New which predict his second com- 
ing ; how is it that the former never received a literal ful- 
fillment? If it be replied, that this was figurative language, 
while the latter is literal description ; I again inquire, By 
what authority or according to what rule is this distinction 
made? Why is the first to be resolved into figure, while 
the latter is considered as literally true? Such distinction 
between the two cannot arise from the language ; this is al- 
most word for word the same. It cannot be made because 
the literal sense is in one case reasonable, while in the other 
it is not ; for in both cases it involves numerous absurdities. 
It cannot be because the one is prophecy and the other nar- 
rative; for both are the language of prophetic declaration. 
On what authority, then, is the literal meaning of the first 
rejected, while in the other it is retained and believed? 
Why are not both to be understood alike, since in both the 
descriptions are similar? There is no rule by which a distinc- 
tion can be drawn. 

I have now gone over the first proposition, and have 
proved that a literal interpretation of the passages adduced 
involves absurdities as great as that of transubstantiation ; 
and that the absence of all literal fulfillment in the case of 



34 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

other prophecies exactly similar, affords the strongest reason 
to expect that in this instance no literal accomplishment 
will take place. That the language itself is that of corre- 
spondence, — the representation of spiritual things by nat- 
ural ; and as such it will receive a spiritual and not a nat- 
ural fulfillment. 

2. We now pass to the second point, namely that the 
texts supposed to refer to the destruction of the material 
world are inconsistent with each other; and are opposed to 
other clear and express declarations of Scripture. In this 
case as in the former, we shall note the words in the debated 
texts. In the passages brought forward to support the 
doctrine, there are four ways mentioned in which the de- 
struction of the heavens (or visible starry firmament) is 
hereafter to take place. First, in one passage of the Rev- 
elation, they are described as being "rolled away as a 
scroll;" in another the stars are said to "fall from heaven 
to the earth." In Peter's Epistle it is declared that they shall 
"pass away with a great noise;" and in another place the 
same apostle says that "the heavens being on fire shall be 
dissolved." Now these four descriptions considered liter- 
ally, contradict and destroy each other. To dissolve is to 
separate into particles, and to return to their first elements. 
But if the starry heavens are thus to be destroyed, then 
they can neither fall to the earth nor be rolled together as 
a scroll ; for that which is dissolved and reduced to its 
first elements, can be destroyed no further except by anni- 
hilation. And if the heavenly bodies are to be thus dis- 



INCONSISTENCIES IN THE LETTER. 35 

solved, then no other kind of dissolution can affect them. 
Again, if we take the other passage, " they were rolled 
away as a scroll," we are placed in precisely the same di- 
lemma. By their being rolled away as a scroll, we must 
then understand that they will be driven from their stations, 
thrown into confusion, and hurried afar into the depths of 
space. But if they are thus rolled away they cannot pos- 
sibly ''fall to the earth," for the two events stand in direct 
opposition ; in the first instance they must be hurled into 
space, far beyond the earth's orbit ; in the latter they must 
absolutely fall upon her surface. And now w : e ask, Are 
the stars to be rolled away, or are they to fall upon the 
earth ? The literal sense of the Scripture mentions both 
events ; but if one occurs, the other (consistently with the 
text) can never take place. 

Suppose, however, we admit for the sake of argument, 
that the rolling away of the heavens is an event separate 
from the destruction of the stars. We again inquire 
whether this event will take place before such destruction, or 
after it. If before it, we come to the former conclusion ; for 
then the stars must fly off with the heaven in which they 
are fixed. If after it, then, as there will be nothing but 
empty space remaining, we ask how such empty space can 
be called the heavens; and how empty space without a 
single visible object, can be "rolled away as a scroll!" 
In this instance, therefore, if we abide by the literal sense 
of one passage, we must of necessity reject that of the 
others. 



36 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

But it is further said that all these events are to take 
place previous to the appearance of the Son of Man. " The 
sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers 
of the heavens shall be shaken. And then (immediately 
following these events) shall appear the sign of the Son 
of Man in heaven." Now this prior commotion includes 
the dissolution of all the elements, " The heavens being on 
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with 
fervent heat." Among the number of the elements, the air 
will of course be destroyed, for it is included among them ; 
and with the air those clouds which depend upon it for their 
existence and visibility. Yet, after this, when the clouds 
have ceased to be, and when the heavens are no more, the 
Son of Man is to appear in these very clouds and in the 
midst of this heaven ! Here, again, is an inconsistency in 
the literal sense of the passage. If the heavens, and with 
them the clouds are dissolved, then it is impossible that 
anything can appear in what has ceased to have an exist- 
ence. Or if the Son of Man is to appear in the clouds, 
then the heavens cannot be destroyed previous to that ap- 
pearance. Which way soever we turn we are met by a 
difficulty. If we receive one of the passages in the literal 
sense, we must either reject or spiritualize the other. 

Again : at the time of our Lord's ascension, the two 
angels who appeared to the disciples declared, " this same 
Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come 
in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts 



THE ASCENSION. 37 

i. 11. It would therefore appear that, if these angelic mes- 
sengers are worthy of credit, the descent of our Lord is to 
be exactly similar in circumstance to his ascent. Now, in 
his ascension into heaven, there are several things which 
require notice. 1st : It was private. He led his disciples 
from the city to the Mount of Olives. 2d : It was seen 
by none but his followers. The generality of the Jewish 
nations did not even know that such an event had taken 
place ; they considered our Lord as a dead man ; and 
hence when they accused Paul before Festus, one part 
of that accusation was that he affirmed one Jesus to be 
alive, who was (in their opinion) dead. Acts xxv. 19. 
3d : His ascension was a solitary one. There is no account 
whatever that any persons were seen ascending with Him : — 
" He was taken up ; and a cloud received Him out of their 
sight." And, 4th : It was unattended by any outward pomp. 
The Jews knew nothing of it ; — there was no alteration in 
the visible world ; and even those who witnessed the event, 
beheld nothing save a bright cloud into which he passed 
and disappeared. The ascension of the Saviour was there- 
fore to the world a private occurrence, so far as privacy 
consists in general ignorance respecting it. It was seen by 
none but his disciples ; it was without pomp or show. Of 
those who afterwards heard of it, numbers gave no credit 
to the story. And the only visible proof that it had taken 
place, was the effect which followed — the extraordinary 
out-pouring of the divine influence. 

And if we keep to the literal sense of the words, this is 



38 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

to be his descent from heaven : He is to come in like manner 
as He went up. If, then, this be the case, then such de- 
scent will be an occurrence unknown to the generality of 
mankind, or only known by its following effects. It will be 
unaccompanied by any destruction, and even by any com- 
motion in the realm of material nature. And many of 
those who hear of it may be expected to deny it, according 
to his own words: "When the Son of Man cometh shall 
He find faith on the earth ?" 

Such, according to the passage before us must be the 
manner of his Second Coming : but let us, if we can, rec- 
oncile this with the former descriptions. In the one case 
all nature is to be destroyed; in the other it is to remain 
unshaken. In the former instance He is said to descend 
with thousands of angels ; in the latter, to come unattended. 
By the first description, He is to be seen visibly by all ; in 
the second, He will be invisible to all except his followers. 
The two accounts thus stand in direct contradiction to each 
other. If He comes again in the same "manner" that He 
ascended, then the former passages cannot be literally un- 
derstood : or if He comes literally in the manner they de- 
scribe, the passage before us cannot be true. 

I might here, as in the former case, go through every pas- 
sage, and show that each of them contains within itself ac- 
counts which are inconsistent with those of the others : in 
one it is said that the Lord shall descend from heaven in 
flaming fire : in another, in the clouds : in a third, on a 
great white throne. In one it is declared that, before his 



THE DIVINE PROMISE. 39 

face the earth and the heaven shall flee away, and their 
place he no more found : in a second, that after His coming 
the departed shall rise from the earth, and the grave and 
the sea give up their dead ; consequently, if the latter part 
be true, the earth will not pass away at the time of His de- 
scent. In the whole there are inconsistencies which science, 
according to the literal meaning, may disguise, but can 
never reconcile. 

We now turn to the consideration of other passages 
which, taken even in their literal sense, militate strongly 
against the doctrine in dispute*. After the destruction of 
the antediluvian earth by the flood, Jehovah affirmed, " 1 
will not again curse the ground any more, though the imag- 
ination of man's heart is evil from his youth ; neither will 
I again smite any more every living thing as I have done." 
This curse which the Lord is here inferred to have pro- 
nounced upon the former w T orld, in whatever sense the 
terms be taken, was accomplished in its destruction ; and 
the end of that world by a flood of waters, completed its 
fulfillment. The curse of the Lord, therefore, when pro- 
nounced upon the earth, leads to its dissolution. But God 
Himself affirms that He will not thus curse the ground any 
more, — that He will not again suffer it to be destroyed, 
neither will He again smite everything living. The dec- 
laration is absolute. It is not said that He will refrain 
from it during a limited period, but that He will not do it 
any more — to all eternity. Yet if the commonly received 
doctrine be correct, this declaration of Jehovah must be 



40 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

untrue. If again everything living is to be smitten, — if 
again the earth is to be cursed with destruction as complete, 
if not more so than the former one ; then it cannot be true 
that every living thing is not again to be smitten, nor the 
earth again to be cursed. In this instance the literal p*oofs 
clash with the solemn declaration of God. 

If, however, it be objected that these words refer not so 
much to the destruction of the globe, as to the mode of that 
event, I reply that no such qualifying language is found in 
the text. The words are general ; they are not "I will not 
again curse the earth with water," but I will not curse the 
ground, — I will not destroy the earth "any more" either 
in this way or in any other. " I will not smite any more 
everything living as I have now done," by an universal 
destruction. And, in fact, the promise that a flood should 
no more destroy the world, would have afforded little con- 
solation to Noah, had he understood that another destruc- 
tion more awful than the former, was approaching, in which 
not this world only, but the whole universe would perish ; 
and when not the greater part, but all things living, would 
be destroyed, without the preservation even of a remnant. 
The flood is certainly in the following chapter referred to 
particularly as the more recent danger, and a repetition of 
which would be most dreaded by the survivors ; but the 
very same declaration of Jehovah, which interdicts a flood 
of waters, equally interdicts any other entire destruc- 
tion : — " I will not in any way curse the ground any 
more." 



THE KINGDOM TO BE SET UP. 41 

There is another subject upon which I must touch, but 
very briefly, since the arguments arising out of it might be 
carried to a length far exceeding my prescribed limits. 
The prophetic writings abound with descriptions of what is 
called "the kingdom of David:" — a kingdom which was 
to arise in the latter day, and upon which every blessing of 
heaven was to descend. " In those days," says the prophet 
Amos, "I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is 
fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise 
up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old." ix. 
" And in the days of these kings (that is, literally, in the 
latter times of the Roman power,) shall the God of heaven 
set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the 
kingdom shall not be left to other people ; but it shall break 
in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
for ever." Dan. ii. 44. Again, the same prophet: "I saw 
in the night visions, and behold one like unto the Son of 
Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the 
ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 
And there was given him dominion and glory and a king- 
dom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve 
him : his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall 
not pass away ; and his kingdom, that which shall not be 
destroyed." That these descriptions refer to the Redeemer, 
is evident, Isaiah when predicting his approach, and the 
establishment of his kingdom, says, " Of the increase of 
his government and peace there shall be no end upon the 
throne of David, and u* on his kingdom to order it and to 

4 * 



42 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

establish it with judgment and with justice from hence- 
forth even for ever." ix. 7. s 

Now the question is, to what authority or kingdom do 
these predictions refer ? That it is not to the general govern- 
ment of God, is clear, — this had existed from eternity ; but 
the dominion spoken of, was to commence at a definite period 
of time, — "at that time," and " in the days of those kings." 
The general subjection of all things to the Divine Being, is 
also something arising out of his very nature, and is neither 
given nor acquired ; but this was something to be acquired. 
" The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his 
father David :" — " The saints of the Most High shall take 
the kingdom." Nor can it refer to the kingdom of the 
just in glory, for the descriptions are such as can only apply 
to the state of men on earth. " He shall feed his flock 
like a shepherd ; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, 
and carry them in His bosom." Isa. xl. 11. "I will set 
up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even 
my servant David." If, therefore, this kingdom be neither 
the general dominion over all, nor the state of the right- 
eous in eternity, it can only relate to the kingdom of the 
church on earth. And that it does so, is plain from the 
very terms used. David is, by almost all professed Chris- 
tians, acknowledged to have been a type and representative 
of the Messiah ; and the Jewish nation over whom he reigned, 
most certainly prefigured the Christian church : the throne 
of David is therefore the authority of the Lord in his 
church on earth, and his kingdom is that church itself. 



THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM. 43 

Now this kingdom and this throne, — this church and au- 
thority are everlasting; they shall "never be destroyed;" 
they shall "not pass away;" they shall "stand for ever." 
But if the earth on which this church exists, is hereafter to 
dissolve and pass away, the kingdom must pass away with 
it. For though it is true that the just in heaven would 
still constitute a kingdom of 'the Lord, yet that kingdom 
would no longer be " the kingdom of David." The very 
declaration that the kingdom of the Lord on earth will 
never be destroyed, supposes as a necessary consequence, that 
the earth on which it is erected will also continue to exist. 

In agreement with this are the words heard by John ; 
" There were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms 
of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of 
his Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever." Rev. xi. 
15. And over what is He thus to reign ? Most certainly 
over the kingdoms which He is here said to have obtained — 
the kingdoms of this world; and over these He is to reign 
" for ever and ever." But how is He to reign for ever over 
the kingdoms of the world, if the world and its kingdoms 
are to be destroyed? Whenever the earth is dissolved, the 
kingdoms of the world will be no more ; and he cannot 
reign over that which has no existence ! If, then, the 
world and its kingdoms are to be destroyed, He can never 
reign for ever over them : or if He will thus reign for ever 
over the kingdoms of the world, then those kingdoms must 
exist for ever ; and if the kingdoms exist for ever, the world 
on which thev are founded must exist for ever with them. 



44 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

And exactly in accordance with this assertion are the 
words of the Psalmist: "He (the Lord) built his sanctuary 
in high places, like the earth which He hath established for 
ever." And those of Solomon : — " One generation passeth 
away, and another cometh, but the earth abideth for ever." 
The same is declared of the heavens : "His name shall en- 
dure for ever ; His name shall be continued as long as the 
sun." Psalm lxxii. 17. "His seed shall endure for ever, 
and his throne as the sun before me; it shall be established 
for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven." 
lxxxix. 36. 

Nothing can be more directly opposed to the common 
opinion than these explicit declarations of the Bible. It is 
certain that these passages refer to the visible earth and to 
the material heaven ; and these it is expressly declared are 
to continue not for a limited time, but for ever : while in 
the passages adduced to prove the opposite, we are left to 
struggle among difficulties, without any certainty that the 
visible earth is at all intended, since even those commenta- 
tors who believe the tenet are compelled, in most instances, 
to abandon the proofs of it. 

I have now established, as far as is necessary, my second 
proposition. I have shown that the literal sense of the 
passages brought forward to confirm the doctrine of the 
earth's destruction, are inconsistent with each other, as well 
as with other parts of the Sacred Volume; and therefore, 
that such literal meaning cannot be the true one. I have 
shown that the words of Jehovah assert that the world 



SIGNS. 4 5 

shall not be smitten any more. I have further shown that 
the duration of the kingdom of God, runs parallel with 
that of the visible world, and that therefore both must en- 
dure for ever. And lastly, that the sacred writers declare 
in explicit language the endless duration both of the earth 
and the heavens. 

3. I now proceed to consider the third part of the sub- 
ject: that the passages brought forward, when taken in 
their proper connexion, give no countenance to the popular 
doctrine, but on the contrary, afford evident proofs that 
they have no reference to it. In doing this, I shall adduce 
them one by one in the order they are laid down. And 
first, the passage in the Gospel of Matthew : " Immediately 
after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, 
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall 
fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be 
shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
Man coming in the clouds of heaven ; and then shall all 
the tribes of the earth mourn when they see the Son of Man 
coming in the clouds of heaven with pow T er and great 
glory." 

I have already noticed the inconsistencies which arise 
from adopting the literal meaning of the passage ; and I 
now remark further, that in their literal and obvious ap- 
plication, the words refer not to any destruction of the 
world in general, but to the approaching overthrow of the 
Jewish nation and polity. I admit that they have a spirit- 
ual reference to the state of the Christian church of which 



46 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

the Jews were a type ; but of this we shall speak hereafter. 
It is with the literal meaning we have now to do, since on 
the literal meaning the doctrine is founded.* 

Our Lord had been addressing the multitude in the tem- 
ple ; and in that address He had solemnly warned them of 
their approaching danger. On his departure, his followers 
pointed to its stately and magnificent buildings; and He 
again seized the opportunity to repeat to them the predic- 
tion of its final destruction. Naturally anxious to learn 
the fate of their country, and, perhaps, too uneasy on their 
own account, they came to Him privately and asked, 
"When shall these things be?" and "what shall be the 
sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the 
age?"f — that is, the period of the Jewish government and 
religion. In reply, He delivered the splendid prophecy 
before us ; first warning them against those pretenders to 
Messiahship, who, soon after His ascension, overrun the 
land of Judea ; and then going on to describe the miseries 
which were coming upon the Jews, and the final overthrow 
of their temple and city ; — He delivers to them this pre- 
diction, not in the common language of narrative, but, in 
the magnificent figures of the ancient prophecy. A method 
of speaking which, while it pointed out the mutation of 
earthly things, had a further reference to things spiritual. 
And thus while He pointed out the overthrow of the Jew- 
ish power, He referred likewise to the degraded state and 

* See Sir Isaac Newton, — Locke, — Dr. A. Clarke, — Burkitt, etc. 
f See Dr. Adam Clarke's remark upon this passage. 



LITERAL SENSE ABANDONED. 47 

corruption of the Christian church, — the spiritual Jerusa- 
lem, — when, having lost its love or charity, it sunk down 
into a state of formal observance as lifeless as the departed 
spirit of Judaism. 

In neither of these senses, however, does the passage 
point to any destruction of the visible universe. If we 
take it in its outward reference to the Jewish nation, then 
the darkening of the sun and the withdrawing of the moon, 
together with the other parts of the description, can only 
be representative images of their multiplied distresses. 
This view r of the subject is taken by most of those who 
have commented on the w T ords. "The sun shall be dark- 
ened," '"that is, (says one,) all their glory and excellency 
shall be eclipsed ; all their w 7 ealth and prosperity shall be 
laid waste ; — the w 7 hole government, civil and ecclesiastical, 
shall be destroyed ; and such marks of misery found upon 
them, as never were seen upon a people."* But among 
the believers of the tenet in dispute, we presume there is 
not one more highly celebrated for learning than Dr. Adam 
Clarke ; yet he, in commenting upon this passage, gives up 
all idea of a literal destruction. The following is the doc- 
tor's explanation : 

"Immediately after the tribulation." — Commentators 
generally understand this and what follows, of the end of 
the w T orld and Christ's coming to judgment. But the word 
immediately shows that our Lord is not speaking of any 
distant event, but of something immediately consequent on 
* Birkitt's Notes on the New Testament. 



48 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

calamities already predicted ; and that must be the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem. The Jewish heaven shall perish and 
the sun and moon of its glory and happiness shall be 
darkened, — brought to nothing. The sun is the religion of 
the church; the moon the government of the state; and the 
stars are the judges and doctors of both. In the prophetic 
language, great commotions upon earth are often repre- 
sented under the notion of commotions and changes in the 
heavens. The fall of Babylon is thus represented by the 
constellations of heaven withdrawing their light, and the 
sun and the moon being darkened : — the destruction of 
Egypt by the heaven being covered, the sun enveloped with 
a cloud, and the moon withholding her light : the destruc- 
tion of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes, is represented 
by casting down some of the host of heaven and the stars to 
the ground. And this very destruction of Jerusalem is 
represented by the prophet Joel, by showing wonders in 
heaven and in earth, — darkening the sun, and turning the 
moon into blood. This general mode of describing these 
judgments, leaves no room to doubt the propriety of its ap- 
plication in the present case." (Commentary on Matthew.) 

Thus, in the hands of one of the most learned advocates of 
the doctrine, does one of its principal proofs vanish into air. 
According to his showing, there is nothing in the whole pas- 
sage referring at all either to the material earth, or the 
visible heavens ; and the whole is a figurative account of 
the overthrow of the religion and govern men t of the 
Jews, — "the sun and moon of the Jeivish heaven." We, 



ADMISSION. 49 

might follow the doctor through the whole chapter, and 
show that in almost every point he confirms what has been 
formerly advanced. " The sign of the Son of Man was, 
(he says,) the signal manifestation of Christ's power and 
glory," in the destruction of Jerusalem. The " angels sent 
forth to gather the elect, the apostles and their successors 
in the Christian ministry." The sound of a trumpet, " the 
earnest affectionate call of the Gospel:" and "the elect," 
" the Gentiles who were now chosen or elected, in place of 
the rebellious obstinate Jews." In the same manner he 
explains the whole of this and the following chapter ; and 
in the latter declares that the whole of the accounts up to 
the thirty-first verse, may be properly applied to the de- 
struction of Jerusalem. And here w T e may leave him ; for 
if there is nothing from the first verse of the twenty-fourth 
chapter, to the thirty-first verse of the twenty-fifth, which 
relates to the destruction of the world, surely nothing re- 
specting it will be found in the remainder. 

Thus does this passage, so often brought forward to add 
to the terror of the world's dissolution, which has been 
sounded forth from pulpits and re-echoed from the press, 
when calmly examined, prove to have no connexion with 
the subject: but to refer to an event as different from the 
general conflagration, as light from darkness. 

But some may be ready to say, " Although it has not 
this reference in its outward meaning, yet you have already 
confessed that it relates to Christianity and the church ; 
and is not the doctrine contained in this internal applica- 



50 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

tion?" I answer, no! The doctrine only stands upon the 
supposition that the heavens and the earth referred to in 
the passage, are the literal and visible portions of nature. 
We have seen that in its relation to the Jews, no such 
things are intended ; still less, therefore, can it point to 
these in its internal meaning. As the sun and moon in the 
literal application are, (to use the words of Dr. Clarke,) 
" the sun and moon of the Jewish heaven " or state, so in 
spiritual reference, they are the sun and moon of the Chris- 
tian heaven, or state of the church ; and, as pointing to 
spiritual principles and spiritual states, have nothing to do 
w T ith the outward machinery of nature. As no destruction 
of the world, then, can be found in the internal sense of the 
prophecy, it is confessed, even by the advocates of the doc- 
trine, that there is nothing respecting it in the outward 
sense. And if nothing is found relating to it either in the 
spiritual or literal meaning of the words, then it is not there 
at all; and the passage as a proof of the dissolution of all 
things, must be abandoned for ever.* 

The next passage which claims attention, is that in the 
sixth chapter of the Revelation ; for the words in the first 
chapter being those of the apostle previous to his prophetic 
visions, may be classed among the apostolic passages of 
which we shall speak hereafter. The text before us reads : 
" And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, 
there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black 

* For further remarks on this text, see "Noble's Plenary Inspira- 
tion of the Scriptures." 



OPEXING OF THE SEALS. 51 

as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and 
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig- 
tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a 
mighty wind : and the heaven departed as a scroll when it 
is rolled together, and every mountain and island were 
moved out of their places." In this part of the subject I 
say nothing of the evidently figurative nature of the pas- 
sage, nor of the absurdities before alluded to, as existing in 
the sense of the letter ; but I shall make one remark obvi- 
ous to the minds of all, and borne out by the connexion 
of the words themselves. The vision of the seals (as well 
as that of the vials,) is one continued prophecy, which is 
not concluded until the breaking of the seventh seal in the 
eighth chapter. Now the events above described, whether 
representative or literal, happen under the sixth seal ; yet 
the descriptions of the seventh as well as those of the others, 
refer to events which were to occur in the church and on 
this visible earth. The sealing of the hundred and forty- 
four thousand, — the prohibition of the wind to blow on 
the earth, — the seven trumpets and their consequences, 
evidently relate to states of the church in this world ; yet 
all these things which were to be transacted in the visible 
world, happen after the description above quoted. 

If, then, various and multiplied events are described as 
occurring on the earth, after the heavens had departed like 
a scroll, and the islands were moved out of their places, 
nothing can be more clear than that the destruction of the 
earth is not here alluded to ; for if the world is to be de- 



52 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

stroyed under the sixth seal, then no events can happen 
upon it under the seventh, since it will then have no exist- 
ence; but as such events are described as passing in the 
world under the seventh seal, then that world cannot pre- 
viously be destroyed under the sixth seal. 

And in this opinion we are, as before, supported by the 
advocates of the doctrine themselves. The sealing of the 
tribes is almost universally acknowledged to signify the 
preservation of the church, under those heavy and forth- 
coming calamities represented by the effects of the seven 
trumpets. And as this preservation, and these calamities, 
occur after the darkening of the sun, and the falling of the 
stars, the latter event is generally supposed to prefigure (not 
the destruction of visible nature, but) some great change 
in the political or religious constitution of the world. The 
precise period to which this change is to be referred, has, 
however, divided the opinions of the learned. Some apply 
it altogether to the Jews, and suppose that their destruction 
in Judea and at Jerusalem was so dismal that it was repre- 
sented to John as the darkening of the sun, and the moon 
looking like blood, and the stars falling. Others apply it 
to the overthrow of Paganism and the destruction of the 
heathen emperors ; and accordingly by the earth quaking,— 
the sun becoming black, — the moon becoming blood, and 
the stars falling from heaven to earth, is to be understood 
the great changes that were made in the Roman empire by 
the overturning of the Pagan state. Others again apply it 
to "the great and horrible confusion of the Christian world 



FIGURATIVE INTERPRETATION. 53 

under Antichrist, when Christ the Sun of Righteousness 
began to be obscured ; that is, his doctrine darkened, — 
the moon or church turned into blood, — the stars or pastors 
fallen from heavenly offices, — the Scriptures, like the 
heavens rolled up, forbidden to be read, — the mountains, 
(king and princes) in jeopardy, — and the islands brought 
under Antichrist's yoke and tyranny." Very few venture 
to apply it to what is commonly called the "end of the 
world;" and none can do it without charging the apostle 
with inconsistency, by affirming that it shall take place at 
a definite period of time ; and then speaking of events that 
are to occur in the world after that time, that is, after the 
world shall have been destroyed ! 

On this passage the commentator whom we have already 
quoted observes, 

" A great earthquake," that is, " a most stupendous change 
in the civil and religious constitution of the world." " The 
sun" — the ancient Pagan government of the Roman em- 
pire, " was totally darkened; and like a black hair sackcloth, 
was degraded and humbled to the dust. The moon — the 
ecclesiastical state of the same empire, become as blood, was 
totally ruined ; their sacred rites abrogated; their priests 
and religious institutions desecrated ; their altars cast down ; 
their temples destroyed, or turned into places of Christian 
worship. The stars of heaven — the gods and goddesses, 
demi-gods and deified heroes, of their poetical and mytho- 
logical heaven, prostrated indiscriminately, and lay as useless 
as the figs or fruit of a tree shaken down before ripe by a 



54 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

tempestuous wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll. 
The whole system of Pagan and idolatrous worship, with 
all its spiritual, secular, and superstitious influence, blasted, 
shriveled up, and rendered null and void as a parchment 
scroll when exposed to the action of a strong fire. And 
every mountain — all the props, supports, and dependencies 
of the empire ; whether regal allies, tributary kings, de- 
pendent colonies, or mercenary troops, were all moved out 
of their places, so as to stand no longer in the same rela- 
tion to that empire and its worship, support, and mainte- 
nance, as they formerly did. And island : — The heathen 
temples, with their precincts and inclosures, cut off from 
the common people, may be here represented by islands." * 

Like the former passage, therefore, this is rendered nuga- 
tory as a proof of the dissolution of the universe; and 
rendered so, too, by the admission of its friends. As that 
referred to the Jewish heaven which passed away at the de- 
struction of the city of Jerusalem, so this is affirmed to 
apply to the mythological heaven of the Pagans, which was 
dissolved at the conversion of Constantine to Christianity ; 
and to have no allusion to the system of material nature. 
Here are two of the strongest passages thrown aside as use- 
less in the controversy ; and we shall quickly perceive that, 
when closely examined, the advocates of the doctrine 
equally cast off, if not the whole, at least the greater part, 
of the remainder. 

Indeed, as I have already remarked, the connexion of 
* Dr. A. Clarke, in loc. 



THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH. 55 

the passage is such as will by no means admit of any literal 
burning of the earth ; so that, even though its inapplica- 
bility to the subject had not been allowed, yet would the 
inconsistency attendant on such a meaning, have pleaded 
loudly for its rejection. 

We pass now to consider the next proof, which occurs in 
the twentieth chapter of the same book : " And I saw a 
great white throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face 
the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no 
place for them. And I saw the dead small and great stand 
before God ; and the books were opened," etc. In connec- 
tion with this stands the first verse of the twenty-first chap- 
ter: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the 
first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there 
was no more sea." 

Upon this passage we may repeat the remark which we 
applied to the foregoing: that the events which follow 
this descent of the Saviour, and which are stated as its con- 
sequences, are such as apply only to the church of God on 
earth ; and that, therefore, the words before us cannot 
point to any dissolution of the universe. The immediate 
effects of the passing away of the heaven and the earth, 
are the formation of a new heaven and a new earth, and 
the descent of " the holy city New Jerusalem." This latter 
event the celebrated Dr. Hammond declares cannot refer to 
the state of glorified saints in heaven, but must signify 
some peculiar benefit bestowed upon the church on earth. 
The expression " descending out of heaven from God," at 



56 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

once determines its reference to a state of things below; 
and it no doubt relates to the restoration of Christianity to 
its primitive purity. In the very same manner does Dr. 
Clarke explain the passage, though he evidently betrays a 
wish to find within it a proof of the dissolution of all 
things. " The New Jerusalem/' says he, " doubtless means 
the Christian church in a state of great prosperity and pur- 
ity :" and alluding to the description given of her, he ob- 
serves, that "it has been most injudiciously applied to heaven." 
If, then, the consequence of the passing away of the first 
heaven is to usher in (not eternal glory, but) a prosperous 
state of the church on earth, it must follow in course that 
such a passing away of the heavens must refer to a change 
and alteration in the church, and not in the natural world ; 
— to the conclusion and departure of a state of darkness, 
and the commencement of a new state of light and affection. 
As the former Jewish heaven of types and shadows departed 
at the first coming of the Son of God, and as the mytho- 
logical heaven of Paganism was "shriveled up" at the tri- 
umph of the Gospel, so must the modern Christian heaven 
of ignorance and evil pass away at the Second Comings of 
the Son of Man ; and to it will succeed a new heaven of 
purity and peace. 

In this application of the passage, we are supported by 
the explanation of the above commentators. They agree 
in defining heaven and earth figuratively, to mean the state 
of the world and of the church ; — of the Jewish world, 
when applied to the Jews ; — of the Pagan world, when ap- 



REVELATION NOT UNDERSTOOD. 57 

plied to the Heathen : and hy the self-same mode of inter- 
pretation, we are justified in applying it to the Christian 
world in its reference to Christians. In no case can it be 
explained of the visible world of matter ; for the passages 
being acknowledged to be figurative, it must, as in the other 
instances, bear the figurative meaning. 

Having thus noticed the only two texts in the Revela- 
tions, which seem, in the least, to bear upon the subject, I 
may be allowed again to repeat my surprise, that persons 
should be found attempting to support a doctrine by the 
literal sense of this book. Those among the advocates of 
the popular belief, who have most carefully studied the 
prophecy, protest their ignorance of its meaning and appli- 
cation. " I cannot pretend to explain the book," says the 
writer above quoted ; " I do not understand it. I repeat it, 
I do not understand the book ; and I am satisfied, that not 
one who has written on the subject, knows anything more 
of it than myself." — " What the prophecies mean, and 
when and how they are to be fulfilled, God in heaven alone 
knows." It "is termed a Revelation; but it is a revelation 
of symbols; — an exhibition of enigmas, to which no partic- 
ular solution is given ; and to which God alone can give 
the solution." " To pretend to say, (observes Calmet,) what 
this new heaven and new earth mean, and what are their 
ornaments and qualities, is, in my opinion, the greatest of 
all presumptions." Yet, into this presumption do the gen- 
erality of Christians fall, who, amidst this candid confes- 
sion of learned ignorance, bring forth with the greatest 



58 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

confidence the literal sense of the book, to support a doc- 
trine which length of time has seemed to render sacred. 

The words of the apostles now demand our attention ; 
and with respect to these we notice a fact which is neces- 
sary to the proper understanding of their ideas ; that is, 
that the apostles were themselves ignorant both of the time 
when, and the manner how, the second coming of the Lord 
would be accomplished ; and that they have, therefore, 
when speaking upon this subject, carefully abstained from 
giving any opinion of their own, confining themselves en- 
tirely to the words of the Saviour, or paraphrasing them 
without altering the symbolic images. 

This circumstance in no degree detracts from that extra- 
ordinary illumination with which the apostles were en- 
dowed. They were men raised up by God, and filled with 
the Divine influence, in order that they might propagate 
in the world, and among all nations, the religion of Christ ; 
but it does not appear that among the supernatural gifts 
which they received, the gift of prophecy was included, 
except in the case of the apostle John. Yet, even if we 
allow, for the sake of argument, that they did possess this 
gift, it would by no means follow that they perfectly under- 
stood their own predictions. It is the peculiar nature of 
prophecy, that its proper meaning is not known until the 
time of its fulfillment ; and this was especially the case with 
the Jewish writers who foretold the first advent of the Sa- 
viour. Although their predictions seem now so clear and 
strong, yet both the prophets themselves and their followers, 



EXPECTATION OF THE APOSTLES. 59 

were at the time ignorant of their precise meaning; and 
hence arose the absurd notions which the Jews entertained of 
a temporal salvation and an earthly Saviour. The gift of 
prophecy was, therefore, except in very rare instances, ac- 
companied by entire ignorance of the manner of its fulfill- 
ment. It does not, however, appear that this gift was be- 
stowed in general upon the apostles ; their knowledge of 
the second coming of the Saviour was derived entirely 
from the words of the Saviour ; and of the express mean- 
ing of these words, as referring to a future event, they 
were completely ignorant. In quoting his prediction they, 
therefore, seem to have held a persuasion that this second 
coming was very speedily to be accomplished. Thus they 
speak of the "day of the Lord" as "at hand," — of "the 
Judge standing at the door :" and Paul, in particular, 
seems to have believed that some of the Christians of that 
day, if not himself among them, would live to see its 
approach. 

Whether this latter opinion be true or not, certain it is 
that the words of the apostles had such an effect upon the 
first Christians, that they were in momentary expectation 
of the appearance of the Lord. During the first nine 
centuries after his ascension, a general idea prevailed that 
his second coming would speedily take place; and when, 
after waiting nine hundred years, they found their expecta- 
tions disappointed, they still looked to the one thousandth 
year to usher in this great event ; and so powerfully did 
this opinion operate upon the world, that rich and poor 



60 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

flocked in great numbers to the Holy Land, there to await 
his appearance. The wealthy sold their possessions, or 
gave them away to charitable institutions ; kings quitted 
their thrones, and subjects their employment, under the im- 
pression that "the end of all things was at hand," and 
that the world was of no further value. Such, then, was 
the effect of a misapplication of prophetic language ; and 
though nearly nineteen hundred years have gone by, yet 
are the Christian churches still following in the steps of 
their predecessors, holding the literal sense of the Word in 
defiance of reason, and looking for the Lord's personal 
appearance in the clouds of heaven, though common sense 
proclaims its improbability. 

But to return. From a comparison of the descriptions 
of the apostles with the predictions of the Lord, it is easy 
to perceive whence they quoted. In many instances the 
two accounts are almost word for word the same ; in others 
they are enlarged ; but in none is the connexion of events, 
or the prophetic symbols, disturbed. "The day of the 
Lord (says Peter,) shall come as a thief in the night, in 
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise." 
Here it is easy to perceive whence the words of the apostle 
w 7 ere drawn ; for we have only to compare them with those 
of our Lord, to be convinced that it was from these the de- 
scription is taken. " Heaven and earth (says the Saviour) 
shall pass aivay, but my words shall not pass away." 
" Know this, that if the good man of the house had known 
at what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, 



IMAGERY USED BY THE APOSTLES. 61 

and not have suffered his house to be broken through." 
Again, Paul declares, " The Lord Himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel 
and the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ shall rise 
first." Here, too, the prophecy is quoted from the Sa- 
viour's declaration : " He shall send his angels with a great 
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect 
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the 
other." Once more the Apostle John says: "Behold, he 
cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, even they 
that pierced Him ; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail 
because of Him :" where the allusion is to these words : 
" Then shall appear the sign of the coming of the Son of 
Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
mourn, when they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 
of heaven, with power and great glory." " Behold, (says 
the Lord) I stand at the door and knock;" "Behold," 
says the apostle, echoing the Saviour's w T ords, "the Judge 
standeth at the door." 

It would exceed my present limits to enter fully into this 
subject. Suffice to say, that in most passages the reference 
to our Lord's predictions may be plainly discerned ; and in 
all the prophetic representatives are retained : The sun, — 
the moon, — the stars, — the earth, — the heavens, darkness, 
dissolution, and fire — the very images which are used by the 
Saviour, are likewise used by the apostles, and used, too, with 
a reference to the same period — the last days of the Chris- 
tian church. If these images, when used by the prophets 



62 THE NEAV ESCHATOLOGY. 

and by the Redeemer, are figurative, then, as the same 
images applied to the same period, they are figurative when 
employed by the apostles. Or, if the dissolution and burn- 
ing of the earth described by the latter are literal facts, 
then the burning of the earth and its dissolution described 
by the former, are literal facts likewise ; for the same images 
applied to the same period, must have the same meaning. 

If, then, these observations be correct, and I see not how 
they can be fairly controverted ; — if the apostles did not, 
except in one instance, possess the power of foretelling 
future events, and if their descriptions of the second com- 
ing of the Lord are gathered from his own words, or from 
the prophetic writings, then we must judge of their mean- 
ing by that of the prophecies whence they are derived. 
This is a plain and self-evident conclusion. If I quote the 
words of any writer, the meaning of the quotation must be 
gathered from the works of that writer; and more es- 
pecially if I quote for a similar purpose, and profess my- 
self one of his disciples and admirers. The passages, 
therefore, which occur in the apostolic writings, are by no 
means decisive proofs of the doctrine in debate. As quota- 
tions and paraphrases of the Lord's words and those of the 
prophets, they must, by every rule of fair criticism, have a 
similar meaning. We have seen that the former are, by 
the acknowledgment of the most learned writers, figura- 
tive and correspondent ; the just inference therefore is, that 
the latter, as quotations and paraphrases of them, must be 
figurative also. 



MUTABILITY NO ARGUMENT. 63 

4. The last part of our proposition comes now before us, 
namely : that the doctrine of the destruction of the universe 
is opposed to the end of creation, and to the character of 
God as a Being of unbounded love and infinite wisdom. 
I may here be told of the tendency of matter to dissolu- 
tion ; of its mutability and constant change; of the ele- 
ments of destruction which nature herself engenders ; and 
of all those by which reason and science have sought to 
gloss over the popular tenet. But the mutability of nature 
is no proof of final dissolution. Mutability is liability to 
change, or a continual tendency to remove from one state 
to another. Whatever is changeable, or whatever can ex- 
perience alteration, is, therefore, mutable. But this muta- 
bility attaches not to material nature alone, but to all crea- 
tion ; the highest archangel in the highest heaven, as well 
as every spirit embodied on earth, is a mutable creature. 
The state of glory in the eternal world, as well as the state 
of man below, is a state of mutability, — a state in which 
there are continual changes either for the better or the worse. 
This will appear plain if we consider that, whatever is im- 
mutable cannot be acted upon by any higher power ; for the 
action of such a superior cause supposes a corresponding 
effect and that effect supposes a change in the object acted 
upon, in one way or another ; and, consequently, any object 
upon which an effect can be produced, must be a mutable or 
changeable object. Now, in the case of angelic beings, God, 
the First Cause of their existence, is continually acting upon 
them by his love and wisdom, and thus raising them eter- 



64 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

nally in the scale of blessedness : such alteration of their state 
from glory to glory is a change, — an effect produced upon 
them by an Almighty Cause ; and this effect is at once a 
proof that angels themselves are mutable creatures, or liable 
to change. The same may be said of the state of blessedness ; 
it is continually receiving fresh supplies of glory from the 
Fountain of life, and is thus changing — becoming more and 
more blessed : and it equally applies to the spirit of man. 
This, like the mind, is never "at one stay;" nor, perhaps, 
does the state of the mind remain precisely the same for 
two hours together. The angels of heaven, the state of 
the blessed, the spirit of man, are all changeable. God 
is the only immutable Being; for He alone cannot be 
acted upon or changed by any higher power ; and hence it 
is one of his exclusive prerogatives to be " without varia- 
bleness or shadow of turning." If, then, the angelic hosts, 
as well as heaven itself, are mutable, while yet they endure 
for ever, the mutability of nature is no proof at all that 
she, any more than the former, is approaching dissolution. 

" Nature herself," as one well observes, " effects her reno- 
vation from her decay." Matter, though decomposed and 
subjected to ten thousand changes, loses none of its essen- 
tial properties ; but continually assuming new forms, gives 
variety to the world, without being at all altered from its 
original nature. Indeed, it has been strongly asserted that 
there has not been a particle of matter lost from the crea- 
tion to the present moment ; changed every particle may 
have been, but still there is not one wanting ; and if this 



THE END OF CREATION. 65 

be the case, such continual change is no proof of approach- 
ing destruction. 

We are accustomed to look upon God as a Being of in- 
finite Love ; and, perhaps, at this stage of the subject it 
may be well to inquire, what motive induced the Lord first 
to create the visible universe ; and what was the end pro- 
posed in its creation. In the breast of the Divine Being 
there could exist but one motive from which creation could 
spring; and this was Love. But the Love of God being 
infinite, could only have respect to an eternal work ; hence 
the end of creation was to make as many beings as possible 
happy, and this to all eternity. In order to accomplish 
this, infinite Love clothing or embodying itself in wisdom, 
made the worlds. According to the words of the apostle, 
" By the Word (or the wisdom of God,) were the heavens 
made;" intending these as the habitations of rational 
beings, who after having passed through a short state of 
probation, might finally enter upon a spiritual state and 
enjoy perfect happiness. The wisdom of God, being the 
manifestation of his love, in completing this work, arranged 
everything in the most perfect order; and accordingly 
every part of the universe is formed in the manner best fitted 
to promote the end of its existence, — the everlasting hap- 
piness of man. In our own world, where evil has produced 
a corresponding change in outward things, even that change 
itself is good, since, while it reminds man of his corrup- 
tion, it leads him to seek a better habitation. 

Thus far our assertions are easy of proof. God is Love ; 
6* 



66 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

— not merely loving, but Love, the Spring and Fountain 
of all derived existence. And love, even in its derivative 
form in the bosom of man, is an active passion, contin- 
ually seeking for objects on whom to bestow its affection. 
As is the stream, then, so is the fountain : God being Love 
in its Infinite Essence, must ever have sought to form crea- 
tures capable of being rendered eternally happy ; and hence 
the motive that led to creation. But love always manifests 
itself in the understanding or thought ; and by the thought 
is brought into outward action. It is the thought or wis- 
dom of man in which his love first takes a definite form ; 
this serves it for a guide, and directs its operations : and so 
again is it with the Being in whose " image " we are formed. 
The manifestation of infinite Love, is infinite Wisdom ; and 
this brings the power into outward act: by infinite Wis- 
dom, therefore, as the acting form of infinite Love, were 
rational beings and their varied habitations created. But 
this perfect wisdom can never produce anything unlike it- 
self; for, as is the cause, so is the effect; hence the frame of 
nature which that wisdom calls into being, must be like 
itself, the most perfect and complete that could possibly 
exist. The motive, therefore, which led to creation was 
Love; its cause, Wisdom; its end, continued and eternal 
happiness. 

And further, as the love and wisdom of God once oper- 
ated in bringing the universe into existence, so from that 
period have they been unceasingly employed in preserving 
the creatures which they formed ; for, as the end of crea- 



WHAT MOTIVE? 67 

tion was the " bringing of many souls into glory," so, to 
the present, has that end been answered by the constant 
exercise of the Divine protection over the universe of 
matter and its rational inhabitants ; that the one might 
continue a fit habitation for the creatures of God ; and that 
by the constant procreation of the human race, a succes- 
sion of men might be brought into being as candidates for 
everlasting glory. But the expected dissolution of the uni- 
verse, and the end of human succession, will at once put a 
stop to this infinite design. If, after a certain number of 
persons have been born into the world, the procreation of 
man must end, then the purpose of creation cannot be in- 
finite ; for that which has reference to a certain number 
and a definite period of time, is not an infinite purpose ; 
and that which is not an infinite purpose, is not the off- 
spring of infinite love. Or, if the purpose of God in crea- 
tion did spring from infinite love, then it must be an in- 
finite purpose ; and if the purpose of creation be infinite, 
then it is not bounded by a few thousand years, nor will it 
end with a few generations. 

Nor is the popular doctrine more consistent with the 
character of God than with the infinity of his designs. 
We have seen that love was the cause of the world's crea- 
tion ; but what motive, I ask, can lead to its destruction? 
There is nothing in the Almighty contrary to love ; there- 
fore, if it is destroyed at all, love must be still the motive. 
But love never works except for the good of its creatures ; 
therefore, if the universe is dissolved, it must be because 



68 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

such dissolution will confer a benefit upon mankind. And 
the question then arises : What benefit can mankind derive 
from the destruction of this material world ? The answer 
of some will be ready. " The world " they tell us, " has 
been changed by sin, and it will be dissolved in order that 
it may be restored to its pristine glory and beauty; — that a 
new heaven and a new earth may spring from its ashes." 
But does the change here supposed in the constitution of 
the world, require its dissolution ? When sin entered into 
the universe, and the mind of man was contaminated, an 
immediate and corresponding effect was produced upon the 
world of matter ; but the production of that effect was not 
accompanied by a dissolution of the material system ; it 
operated surely indeed, but slowly, and without any out- 
ward destruction. Why, then, should not the change from 
evil to good, be effected in like manner as the change from 
good to evil ? When the earth is " filled with the know- 
ledge of the Lord," — when all shall experimentally "know 
Him from the least even unto the greatest," — when man is 
again restored to his former state of peace and purity, a 
corresponding change must once more take place in his ma- 
terial habitation ; but that change requires no destruction 
of the world to effect it. Similar causes produce similar 
effects ; and as a change in man from good to evil, pro- 
duced an alteration in the system of the world, but with- 
out any dissolution, so a change in the souls of men from 
evil to good, must likewise produce .an alteration in the 
earth, but without dissolution. 



DOES LOVE DESTROY? 69 

But this destruction, it is said, is to usher in "a new 
heaven and new earth." We are, therefore, justified in 
asking, for what purpose is this new material system created ? 
Since it is believed that the succession of man will cease 
with this earth, why should another earth be formed? Is 
another race of men to be created ? This, the strongest 
advocates of the doctrine do not even suppose. Is it, then, 
to be the habitation of the righteous of the present earth ? 
This, it cannot be, for the bodies of the departed will no 
longer be material, but spiritual; and to assert that a 
spiritual substance can dwell and walk on a material earth, 
however pure that earth may be, is to assert what every one 
sees to be preposterous. Since, then, it will not suit the de- 
parted righteous, and another race is not to be formed, why, 
we continue to ask, will this new earth be created? Here 
we are left completely in the dark ; nor amidst all the rea- 
soning of the advocates of the popular doctrine, can we find 
a single clue to direct us to an answer. 

And here the former inquiry properly comes in. Since 
there is nothing in the nature of God contrary to love, and 
since that love only works for the temporal or everlasting 
benefit of man, what motive can induce the Almighty to 
destroy this visible universe? We have seen that the state 
of mankind in time will not be improved by it; for a 
change in the constitution of the earth has been already, 
and may again be, effected without it : and, besides, when- 
ever such an event takes place, time and the temporal ex- 
istence of man will be no more: and the eternal happiness 



70 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

of the blessed can in no degree be increased by an over- 
throw of material nature ; for when the spirit has left this 
sphere, it has done with matter, and no longer depends upon 
it for its feelings or its pleasures. If, then, such a dissolu- 
tion of the earth as Christians in general look for, will 
neither benefit mankind in time nor in eternity, then it is 
contrary to the character of God that He should bring such 
an event to pass; for He never operates unless to effect 
some benevolent purpose ; and this will effect none, either 
here or hereafter. 

The same reasons which induced the Almighty to call 
the universe into existence, will therefore induce Him to 
continue its existence. The desire which He felt to make 
as many rational beings as possible happy, led to creation. 
The same feeling has preserved the world in existence to 
the present moment. And as God is unchangeable, that 
desire must operate as powerfully ten thousand ages hence, 
as it does now ; and the operation of that desire must, as a 
necessary consequence, lead to the preservation of this 
earth, from which a succession of rational creatures is to 
spring. If, then, at a future period the world is destroyed, 
and the multiplication of the human race ceases, it must 
be either because the Lord is unable to save more, or is 
unwilling to do it. The first supposition is impious, and 
the other supposes a change in the Almighty ; for then 
that desire which led to creation must have ceased to exist 
in the Divine bosom ; the infinite love of God must have 
ceased to operate ; and of consequence, the Lord Himself 



SUM* OF THE ARGUMENT. 71 

must have changed both his desires and his operations. 
The destruction of the world is, therefore, opposed to the 
character of God, as a Being of infinite Love and un- 
bounded power. 

We may now sum up the arguments which have been 
adduced. 

1. When the literal sense of a passage of Scripture is 
opposed to common sense and reason, such literal sense 
must be laid aside, as not containing the true meaning. 
But the literal sense of those passages which speak of a 
destruction of the earth, is both absurd and unreasonable. 
Therefore the literal sense of these passages must be aban- 
doned, and does not contain the proper interpretation. 
Again : when two prophecies are found couched in the 
same language, and referring to a similar event, one of 
which is fulfilled while the other remains unaccomplished ; 
the manner in which the latter will be fulfilled, must be 
judged of by the previous fulfillment of the former. But 
the first prophecies relating to the first coming of the Lord, 
are exactly similar to those which refer to His second 
coming; yet they never were literally fulfilled: therefore 
we have no just reason to look for a literal fulfillment of 
the latter. 2. When any text of Scripture is, in the letter, 
inconsistent with itself, or with other plain and express 
passages of the Word, the interpretation must be sought 
for in the spiritual meaning of the words. But the proofs 
of this earth's destruction are inconsistent with themselves, 
and are opposed to other plain and direct portions of the 



72 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

Word of God ; therefore the meaning of those alleged 
proofs must be found, not in the literal sense, but in their 
spirit. 3. In the explanation of every part of the Sacred 
Scriptures, a due regard must be had to the connexion in 
which it stands ; and any mode of explanation which tends 
to break such connexion, or is at variance with it, may be 
beautiful but cannot be true. But the connexion in which 
the passages referred to are found, is completely at variance 
with the doctrine derived from them ; nor can they in any 
way support that doctrine until severed from this connexion. 
Therefore that explanation which the generality of Chris- 
tians gives them, cannot be correct. 4. And, lastly, whatever 
doctrine is opposed to the character of God, as a God of 
unbounded love and infinite wisdom, is not a doctrine of 
the Bible. But the doctrine before us is thus opposed 
both to his nature and perfections ; therefore it cannot be 
true. 

The arguments arising out of these propositions might 
be carried to a great extent. If, however, they have been 
supported by reason as well as Scripture ; — if we have no 
right to expect a literal fulfillment of the prophecy relat- 
ing to the Lord's second coming ; and if the literal sense 
of the passages must be abandoned ; then we have no reason 
to look for an overthrow of the universe, and the improba- 
bility of such a destruction has been fairly established. 

Having thus gone through the principal part of the sub- 
ject, and having shown that the common interpretation, 
against which so many and serious objections lie, cannot be 



THE SUN AS A SYMBOL. 73 

the true meaning ; I proceed, as a necessary conclusion, to 
notice briefly the spiritual meaning of the prophetic sym- 
bols used in the passages that we have noticed, and their 
connexion with each other. That the whole of these pas- 
sages relate to the Christian church, we have already stated ; 
and that they are of importance to us, may be fairly 
inferred from their being found in the Sacred Volume. It 
is, therefore, scarcely possible to conceive that even learned 
and pious men have been able to perceive nothing within 
them but earthly concerns, — mere temporal events ; the 
destruction of Jerusalem ; the conversion (whether real or 
pretended) of Constantine; wars in Italy; the irruption 
of the Goths ; and the famine of the Antonines ; as if these 
events were either able, or likely, to give that saving wis- 
dom which it is the object of God by his Word to bestow. 
Everything in the Sacred Volume is intended to contribute 
to our salvation ; but transactions like these do not tend 
to make us wiser or better. It is to the Christian church, 
and to its principles and practice, therefore, that these 
descriptions refer ; and as they relate to the general body, 
they apply to every individual of which that body is com- 
posed, and thus demand our most serious attention. 

The principal symbol used in these prophecies is, " the 
sun ;" and this is said to " become black," and to be " turned 
into darkness." Our first inquiry, therefore, is, what prin- 
ciple in the spiritual world of Christianity, corresponds 
with this luminary in the world of matter. And in this 
inquiry we shall be aided, if we consider the functions it 



74 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

performs. The sun is the source of all natural heat and 
splendoj; and without his influence, the worlds in the 
solar system, now glowing in light and beauty, would 
be dead and unattractive masses of matter. He is the 
cause of all vegetable and animal life : deprived of his 
beams, vegetation would decay, and the animal kingdom 
sink in death. He is the principal agent in the production 
of sight; the eye without him, would be a useless organ. 
In a word, if we were called upon to name the most import- 
ant agent in the material world, our thoughts would turn 
at once to the sun. Now, in the spiritual world, including 
both the church of God and the individual spirit of man, 
what is that which produces the same effects as the natural 
sun does in the system of matter ? What is the source of 
love and wisdom, spiritual heat and spiritual light? — What 
is it that produces in the mind those fruits of righteousness 
which are the characteristics of true religion ? What gives 
to reason (the eye of the mind) its power of discerning spir- 
itual things? and invests the soul, naturally dark and life- 
less, with spiritual life and glory ? It is Divine Love that 
does this. This is the Sun of the spiritual universe, — the 
Fountain of all heavenly light and life, — the Cause of 
every good word and work. And in giving this meaning 
to the natural image, we are supported throughout by the 
Sacred Scripture. The Lord is called "the Sun," and, 
"the Sun of Kighteousness." He is said to rise upon the 
mind, when the spirit turns itself toward Him ; and to 
turn away from man, when he departs from his Maker. In 



THE MOON AS A SYMBOL. 75 

the same manner, whenever the prophets or apostles were 
favored with a visible representation of the Divine Maj- 
esty, they describe the face of God as shining like the sun. 
Now the face of God is his Love. Hence the Psalmist says, 
" Lift upon us the light of thy countenance, and cause thy 
face to shine upon us." And this love of God is described 
as the sun, rising, shining, and giving light. Thus, too, in 
the visions of John, w 7 hen the apostle beheld an image of 
the pure church of Christ, he describes her as " a woman 
clothed with the sun;" or encompassed on every side by the 
Divine Love. By the sun, then, in the internal sense of 
prophecy, we understand the infinite and unbounded love 
of the Almighty, w T hich alone is the cause of life and light ; 
and which gives strength, support, and beauty, to the spir- 
itual system of man. 

Having obtained the meaning of this principal symbol, 
we shall be at no loss to determine that of the other. 
" The moon," as regards apparent splendor, is the second 
great luminary in the visible heavens. In herself, how- 
ever, she is a dark body, and possesses no power of com- 
municating light except by the reflection of the sun's beams. 
In this case, therefore, w r e have to seek a second principle 
in the heaven of the church, corresponding with this second 
light in the heaven of matter ; a principle which, though 
it enlightens and cheers the soul, has no brightness in itself; 
but derives all its usefulness and beauty from a conjunction 
with love. And this principle we find in faith ; that 
faith which springs from charity. As the moon derives all 



76 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

her light from the sun, so does true faith draw all its glory 
from love. As the moon separated from the sun's influence, 
is dark and lifeless, so is faith without love, dead and use- 
less. And as the light proceeding from the moon is but 
the rays of the sun reflected from her surface, so is the 
faith that springs from a modification of the love of God, 
a reflection of his infinite benevolence. 

And here, again, the apostle confirms this idea. While 
he represents the church of God as being clothed with the 
Sun, he also describes her as standing upon the moon, or 
having " the moon under her feet :" — pointing out the love 
with which she is continually encompassed, and the faith 
upon which she is securely founded. Thus Paul, speak- 
ing of the universal church of Christ, declares that it is 
" built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets :" 
— that is, upon their doctrines, and upon the truth which 
they made known ; " Jesus Christ Himself," as the Truth 
Itself, being " the chief corner stone." Eph. ii. 20. With 
this, too, agrees the sublime prophecy of Isaiah. When 
speaking of the church restored to its full perfection and 
glory, he says, "Thy sun shall no more go down, neither 
shall thy moon withdraw herself; for Jehovah shall be 
thine Everlasting Light and the days of thy mourning 
shall be ended,' ' ix. 20. That is : Thy love shall no more 
depart, neither shall thy faith and charity decay ; for God 
shall dwell in every soul by his love, and his beams shall 
be reflected from every bosom. 

We might go through the whole of those predictions 



THE STARS AS SYMBOLS. 77 

which relate to this subject; and in all cases we should 
find that this interpretation of the figures not only makes 
a complete and consistent sense, but that the passages so in- 
terpreted would stand in the most complete agreement with 
the general tenor of the Scriptures, and with the hopes of 
the best and wisest among men. 

The third symbolic figure is, "the stars:" and these, as 
regards the quantity of light transmitted to the earth, are 
secondary luminaries in the visible system. They shine not 
with any borrowed radiance, but with their own native 
splendor. And here, again, we must repeat the inquiry, 
what are those luminaries in the mental heaven, which hold 
a secondary place in the concern of salvation, to love and 
faith ; yet shine, not with reflected light, but with the real 
brightness of the Divine Glory ? The answer is easy : They 
are the doctrines of religion or the knowledges of truth ; — 
those portions of the eternal reason, which the manifested 
Truth has Himself revealed. But some may be ready to 
observe, that these are already included m the Faith of 
which I have just spoken. A single remark, however, will 
obviate this objection. That faith and the knoivledge of 
truth generally go together, is certainly true ; — even as the 
moon and stars shine at the same time. But to know 
the truth is one thing, and to have faith in God is another 
and widely different thing ; as different as the light of the 
stars is from that of the moon. And as the stars frequently 
shine when the moon is not seen, so does the knowledge of 
truth frequently exist in the mind when true faith has no 



78 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

existence. I am, therefore, consistent in declaring that the 
light of the stars, — the knowledge of doctrines, though a 
valuable acquisition, is secondary in importance both to 
Christian faith and to Divine Love. Yet the doctrines or 
truths which are the objects of this knowledge, are not de- 
rived from any source lower than divinity itself; they are, 
as just observed, portions of eternal wisdom designed for 
the guidance of the church of God ; and derived from the 
"Father of lights," from whom proceeds "every good and 
every perfect gift." 

In thus mentioning doctrines, (or the term which I have 
used as synonymous, truths, for pure doctrines are but truths 
embodied) I by no means refer to the tenets of a sect or 
party, but to the eternal wisdom of the Almighty, as re- 
vealed in his Word : and with respect to this, the parallel 
between it and the natural image may be carried through 
all its parts. As the stars are of the same nature with the 
sun, and like him shine with their native and proper light, 
so is the wisdom* of God of the same nature with his love ; 
both being essential attributes of Divinity. As the stars, 
however, though in themselves splendid bodies, communi- 
cate no heat to the earth, and are but of secondary import- 
ance in comparison with the sun and moon, so does the 
mere knowledge of truths, (although the truths in them- 
selves possess the nature of divinity,) leave the soul as 
cold and lifeless as before ; and is of far less importance in 
the spiritual system than the love of God, or faith, its re- 
flection on the soul. Carry the comparison as far as we 



THE SPIRITUAL LUMINARIES. 79 

may, still the stars of the natural heaven correspond ex- 
actly to the truths of the church ; and the light which they 
emit, to the knowledge of that truth. 

And this interpretation of the symbol agrees, too, with 
the vision of the apostle. The church clothed with the Sun 
of love, and standing upon faith; the symbolic moon had 
upon her head (the seat of intelligence and wisdom) a 
crown of twelve stars; — denoting the knowledges of pure 
truth which should ornament that church in her last state 
of peace and holiness. So the great red dragon, who is de- 
scribed as fighting with Michael and his angels, is said to 
have drawn the third part of the stars from heaven ; — 
pointing out the almost total extinction of real truth in the 
corrupted Christian churches. We might again trace this 
meaning in every passage where the natural image occurs, 
and we should still find that the sense it gives to each of 
them is consistent both with the Word of God, as referring 
to the great concern of salvation, and with the connexion 
in which the passages are found. 

In these symbolic representations we, therefore, perceive 
the three sources of light in the Christian heaven, love, 
faith, and knowledge. The first being the diffused affec- 
tion of the Father of spirits ; the second, its reflection in 
the soul of man ; the third, the truths of doctrine which 
enliven and ornament the church, proceeding immediately 
from the Source of all Wisdom. The glory of each is the 
same in substance, as the light of the sun, moon, and stars, 
is the same in nature; but it differs in degree, as the lumi- 



80 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

nary whence it springs is of more or less importance to the 
eternal happiness of man. Knowledge is the least import- 
ant; of itself merely, it produces nothing. Faith rises 
above knowledge ; yet even faith by itself is useless. Love 
is the chief; this quickens, animates, and renders fruitful, 
the church of God, and the soul of each individual member. 
I press this interpretation on no one; yet I may say, 
without breaking the bounds of Christian liberty, that it car- 
ries probability on its very face. The parallel between the 
natural image and its spiritual correspondent, is complete 
throughout ; but this can by no means be said of the vari- 
ous constructions which have generally been put upon 
them. The sun, it is said, is the civil government of a 
state ; and the moon, its ecclesiastical policy. But in vain 
shall we attempt to draw a comparison here between the 
natural figure and the object said to be signified by it. 
The civil government of an empire is not the source of all 
wisdom, love, and prosperity, as the sun is of heat, light, 
and fruitfulness. It does not give to the ecclesiastical all 
its power, glory, and beauty, as the sun does to the moon ; 
nor would the church become dead and lifeless if separated 
from the state, as the moon would if severed from the sun. 
The pastors of the church, which it is affirmed are the 
stars, do not, like the stars, shine with their own native 
splendor. The comparison, therefore, does not in any de- 
gree hold good : while in the meaning we have given above, 
consistency both with Scripture and reason, as well as with 
the best interests of man, is preserved throughout. 



SPIRITUAL MEANING OF HEAVEN. 81 

Now if this signification of the sun, moon, and stars, be 
correct, we need not employ much time in fixing the mean- 
ing of the terms "heaven," and "earth," when applied to 
the church of God. Heaven, or the atmosphere, is that in 
which the sun, moon, and stars appear; and by means 
of which they produce their effects. It is the grand reser- 
voir of those particles, which, acted upon by the sun, and 
thus set in motion, cause heat; and preserve on the earth, 
life and vegetation. And the earth is that body, on the sur- 
face of which vegetation flourishes and life appears. This 
at once points out the figures as applying to the inward feel- 
ings and outward life of an individual; or, to the internal 
state of the church and its outward forms and ceremonies. 
It is in what the apostle calls "the inward man," that love, 
faith, and knowledge produce their first effects; and by 
operating upon the feelings and affections of the mind, 
cause spiritual light and heat — true wisdom and divine 
love. And these produce a corresponding effect in the out- 
ward conduct, bringing forth " fruits meet for repentance," 
— the living forms and witnesses of religion. As the sun 
shines in the atmosphere and produces fruit on the earth, 
so love shines in the soul and brings forth effects in the 
conduct, either in the case of an individual, or of the 
church as an assembly of individuals. By the same rule 
of analogy we may perceive what is meant by the clouds. 
These in the natural world, are vapors exhaled from the 
earth by the heat of the sun ; and which condensed into 
form in the atmosphere, serve to perform their important 



82 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

functions. They temper and lessen in some degree the 
heat of the sun ; they serve to beautify the appearance of 
the heavens ; they are the great depository of rain, and 
the principal agents in the production of tempests. That 
which corresponds to them must, therefore, be something 
springing from the outward state of man, which is the 
grand depository of truth (spiritual water), behind which 
the glory of the Divine Love and Wisdom is seen, and 
w T hich accommodates this wdsdom to the capacity of man- 
kind. And this we find in the outward letter of the Word 
of God. The historical narratives, the figures of prophecy, 
the parables of the Saviour, are all images rising from the 
world and the temporal state of mankind ; and thus, like 
the clouds, they have their origin from the earth. Within 
this outward body of image and narrative are contained 
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ; it is the grand 
source from which truth must be drawn. And the glory 
of God shines through the whole, imparting to every 
natural form the splendor of divinity. And as the mate- 
rial images of the Bible serve to accommodate the wisdom 
of God to the capacity of his creatures, so have they often 
been the cause of those convulsions in the church, which 
seemed even to threaten her existence. "The letter" has 
often killed, when unaccompanied in the mind with the 
"spirit which giveth life." We cannot, therefore, find in 
the figure before us anything which so completely accords 
with its origin and design, as the outward letter of the 
Word of God — the clouds of the Christian heaven. 



CONNEXION OF THE SYMBOLS. 83 

The meaning of the principal symbols being thus stated, 
we pass to the connexion which they bear to each other in 
the predictions of the Saviour. We have already noted 
that the prophecy contained in Matthew, and recorded by 
the other Evangelists, refers in its primary application to 
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies ; but in 
its more extensive meaning it points to the state of the 
Christian church in her period of decline and corruption, 
of which Jerusalem in her last days was a fitting type. 
With respect to this it is declared "the sun shall be dark- 
ened" — the Divine Love obscured and lost; "and the 
moon shall not give her light" — faith and charity shall 
sink in darkness ; "and the stars" — the knowledge of truth 
"shall fall from heaven," — no longer exist in the minds 
of her members ; " and the powers of heaven" — the whole 
internal state of the church "shall be shaken" — shall be 
thrown into complete disorder and confusion. This meaning, 
to which we are led by the connexion and correspondence 
of the natural symbols, points to a time (not when the 
universe shall be destroyed, but) when true religion shall 
have ceased to exist in the church: — "when the love of 
many shall wax cold:" when true faith will no longer be 
found; and when knowledge — the knowledge of genuine 
spiritual truth — shall have passed away. The same things 
are described in the vision of the apostle. "There was -a 
great earthquake" — a shaking and disorder in the state of 
the church; "and the sun became black as sackcloth of 
hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven 



84 THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

fell to the earth," — the knowledge of truth which once 
shone in the mind, sunk into mere outward creeds and con- 
fessions of faith; "and the heaven departed as a scroll 
when it is rolled together" — the whole internal state of the 
church was thrown into confusion, and every inward feeling 
of religion perished. 

The event immediately following is the appearance of the 
Son of Man in the clouds, with a trumpet ; and since it is 
confessed that a trumpet signifies " the call of the Gospel," 
or as I would express it, the manifestation of truth ; and 
as the clouds correspond to the outward form of the Word, 
the appearance of the Lord in the clouds and attended by 
trumpets, must signify the manifestation of spiritual love 
and truth in the letter of Scripture : and this is supported 
by what is afterwards said to be the consequence ; " a new 
heaven and a new earth," — a new state of the church both 
internal and external, both as regards inward feelings and 
outward conduct. 

That this interpretation is true, I call upon no one to 
believe ; but that it is probable will, I think, be confessed 
by all ; and that it is in perfect harmony with the infinite 
designs of God toward his rational creatures, as well as with 
his character as a Being of infinite Love, will be equally 
acknowledged. Whether there has been a period in the 
Christian church (as there certainly was in the Jewish) 
when the above description was applicable to her ; when 
religion had sunk into mere formality ; when bigotry and 
intolerance both in priests and people, cut up charity by 



GLAXCE AT THE TWO VIEWS. 85 

the roots ; when faith was a mere body from which the 
spirit had departed ; when the clergy were mere formalists, 
and the people were sensualized; when sacred knowledge 
was neglected by the one and unknown to the other: 
whether, I say, such a period has yet arrived, and if so, 
whether it was eighty years ago, or eight hundred, it is not 
my province now to inquire. My object is to show that 
the images used by the sacred penmen have reference to 
such a state, and to a subsequent restoration ; and this I 
have shown by the rule or law of analogy existing be- 
tween spiritual and natural things, as well as by the grand 
design of the Word of God in which those images occur. 

And if it be probable that such is really the fact, then 
the design with which I commenced my task is completed. 
If the natural sense of the words of Scripture is absurd — 
if the best commentators themselves admit that in their 
outward application the words have no reference to the de- 
struction of the natural world — and if, considered in their 
internal meaning, they relate to the church, its decline, 
and restoration ; then there is no proof in the Scriptures of 
the dissolution of the visible universe ; but strong evidence 
that it will never take place. 

Let us, however, before leaving the subject, take a hasty 
glance at the two doctrines which have been presented. 
The first declares that after creating the universe, and en- 
dowing it with life and beauty ; after forming man as a 
candidate for eternal glory, and after raising up a church 
which it is said w T as to endure " for ever," God will at a 



SQ THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

future time (for what reason, or to answer what purpose, is 
unknown,) destroy the fabric he has created; throw the 
whole universe into confusion and reduce it to ashes. That 
He will, for some reason equally unknown, put an end to 
the human race, and no more bring rational creatures to 
eternal happiness; that heaven will be closed, and not 
another candidate admitted ; and that the church will then 
cease on earth, and never again be restored. And this 
supposition is founded on vague and mysterious texts of 
Scripture, and on a literal interpretation of figures which 
the most learned confess they cannot comprehend. 

The other doctrine maintains that God, having created 
the world and peopled it with inhabitants, will continue 
it in existence; and that though religion will in the 
" latter ages" decline, yet at length "the Lord will appear 
in the brightness of his glory," will destroy evil and false- 
hood among men, — restore the world to its first state of 
purity ; and that it shall then for ever become one vast 
temple, from which a ceaseless song of praise shall con- 
tinually arise ; while its inhabitants, prepared and prepar- 
ing for a higher state, shall pass in succession into the eter- 
nal rest of God ; and that the earth shall therefore be a 
nursery for glory, — a place of trial for a continual race of 
candidates for heaven. 

This is a consummation worthy of the Creator, — worthy 
of the infinity of his nature and perfections, — worthy of 
the plan of redemption which He became incarnate to 
effect. It is agreeable to the dictates of the soundest 



TRUTH FEARS NO INQUEST. 87 

reason, and in accordance with the hopes and wishes of 
every man who has not bowed down his reason to the idol 
of popular opinion. While the opposite tenet sets reason 
at defiance, makes the Bible teach what is practically 
absurd, and stands in opposition to the opinion of some of 
the most learned among its own advocates. 

We cannot conclude this little treatise more appropriately 
than in the words of a writer often quoted in these pages. 

"The doctrines or principles which I have stated and 
defended in this work, I believe to be the truths of God. 
Those against which I have argued, I believe to be either 
false or unproved. The doctrine which cannot stand the 
test of rational investigation, cannot be true. We have 
gone too far when we have said ' such and such doctrines 
should not be subjected to rational investigation, being doc- 
trines of pure revelation.' I know no such doctrine in the 
Bible. The doctrines of the Scripture are doctrines of 
eternal reason ; and they are revealed because they are such. 
Human reason could not have found them out ; but when 
revealed, reason can both apprehend and comprehend them. 
It sees their perfect harmony among themselves, their agree- 
ment with the perfections of the Divine Nature, and their 
sovereign suitableness to the nature and state of man : thus 
reason approves and applauds. Some men cannot reason, 
and therefore they declaim against reason, and proscribe it 
in the examination of religious truth." 

Men may incorporate their doctrines in creeds, or articles 
of faith, and sing them in hymns ; and this may be both 



bb THE NEW ESCHATOLOGY. 

useful and edifying if the doctrines be true. But in every 
question which involves the eternal interests of man, the 
Holy Scriptures must be appealed to in union with reason 
their great commentator. He who forms his creed or con- 
fession of faith without these, may believe anything or 
nothing,*as the cunning of others or his own caprice may 
dictate. Human creeds and confessions have been often 
put in the place of the Bible, to the dishonor both of rev- 
elation and reason. Let those go away, let these be retained, 
whatever be the consequence. 



THE END. 



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